EARLY HISTOBY 



OF 



CLEVELAND, 



OHIO, 



INCM'DIN(; OKKilNAL I'ArKKS AM) OTHKR JIATTKK KH.ATING TO 
THE APJACKNT COUNTRY. 



WITH 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES 



OF THE 



PIOKKEUS AND SURVEYORS 



BY COL. OriA'« WHITTLESEY 



CLEVELAND, O 
1867. 



COPY EIGHT SECURED ACCOEDING TO LAW. 






FAIRBANKS, BENEDICT & CO., PKINTEB9, 
HERALD OFFICE CLEVELAND. 



PREFACE. 



The materials for this work have been accumulating many years, 
but were far from complete, when Judge Barr turned over to me, his 
historical collections without reservation. He has been engaged with 
much assiduity more than a quarter of a century, in reclaiming the 
personal history of the pioneers ; a labor which I trust their descend- 
ants will appreciate. The extent of the obligations I am under to him 
will appear frequently in this volume. 

I am also indebted to a number of other gentlemen, particularly to 
General L. V. Bierce and the Hon. F. Wadsworth, of Akron, to 
Messrs. H. A. Smith, Prof. J. P. Kirtland, Jacob Perkins, Samuel 
Williamson, and the late James S. Clarke, Mrs. Ashbel W.Walworth, 
and Mrs. Dr. Long, all of Cleveland. The heirs of General Moses 
Cleaveland, and John Milton Holley, of Connecticut ; the surviv- 
ing sons of Governor Huntington, of Painesville, and Judge With- 
erell, of Detroit, have done me essential service. 

Many documents relating to later periods, and to other parts of the 
Reserve have been procured ; which will at some future period be 
required for historical purposes. I am more ambitious to preserve 
history, than to write it, and have therefore freely transcribed from 
papers, letters, verbal statements, and casual publications, relating to 
the early times. The originals are certainly more authentic, and more 
entertaining, than a reproduction would be, in the language of another. 
This plan necessarily involvps some repetition, and defies strict chro- 
nological arrangement, but possesses more life, freshness and variet}'. 

My prospectus included only the " Early History of Cleveland," but 
with a mental reservation, had the subscription warranted me in the 
undertaking, to enlarge the work, and include what relates to the more 
recent progress of the city. This I have not been enabled to do. What 



IV PREFACE. 

concerns commercial miittertJ, in later times; to railways, local improve- 
ments, institutions, general improvements, and general statistics, 
could not have been inserted, and do justice to those heroic pioneers, 
who laid the Ibuudatiou of our prosperity. What refers to banks, 
churches, newspapers, trade, benevolent societies, manufactories, and 
the city authorities, is on record, and therefore not in danger of being 
lost. 

In 1810, the county -svas organized, since when all judicial matters 
are to be found in the recorded proceedings of the various courts. 
The "Village of Cleaveland," was incorporated in 1814, and its munici- 
pal record is in existence. A weekly newspaper called the Cleaveland 
Gazette and Commercial Advertiser, was issued in August, 1818. Since 
that time there are unbroken files, of weekly or daily papers for refer- 
ence. 

But for the more remote periods, it has been more dillicultto obtain 
reliable inforaiation. Works relating to the early French and English 
occupation on lake Erie, and especially the southern shore, are rai'e, 
and in respect to this region, their contents are very meagre. The 
papers of the Connecticut Land Company and their surveyors, have 
been only partially transferred to Ohio. Perhaps many of them are no 
longer to be found in Connecticut, and such as exist are so much 
scattered as to be in practice inaccessible. 

The personal history of the first settlers and surveyors, has been 
partially procured. My principal object has been to secure from obliv- 
ion, what relates to them. Since they are no longer with us, to speak 
of themselves ; what they accomplished, and what they suflered, was 
to be sought for in traditions, private letters, and transient publica- 
tions. In carrying out this design, it was necessary to insert much 
that occurred outside of the city limits, in other parts of the Reserve. 
The history of the city and country, previous to the war of 1812 is so 
intimately connected, that it should ))c written as one. 

C. W 
Cleveland, .Tanuary, 18()T. 



C O N T E K T S 



PRE-ADAMITE HISTORY.— Geological Foundation— Quaternary, or Drift, Pa^e 9. 
Buried. Trees, Branches and Leives — Lost Kocks, 10. Chemical "Composition — Fresh 
Water Shells, 11. Hard Pan— Thickness— Encroachments of the Lake, 13. Ancient 
Water Levels — Ancient Shore- (t>uicksands, 13. Illustrations, Map and Profile — Ex- 
planatory Notes, 14-15. lyand Slii)s — Stratification of the l)rift, 10. Itote of En- 
croachment, from lT9f> to 1842, 17. Remains of the Elephant— Valley of the Cuyahoga, 
18. Buried Timber— Fossils of the Drift— The Horse, Beaver, &c"., 1'.). Alpine and 
Greenland Glaciers, 20-21. Ice Action on Lake Michigan and Lake Eric, 22. Ice 
Action at Tallmadge. Euclid, Austintown — Dayton, 23. Ice Action, Fac Simile, She- 
boygan, Wisconsin, 21. Ice Action, Lake Superior — Cause of Glacier Motion, 25. 

PRE-HISTORIC INHABITANTS.— Ancient Earth Works and Fortifications, 29-30. 
Ancient Copper Tools in the Ohio Mounds, 31. Ancient Copper Mines, Implements 
and Weapons. 32-34. Ancient Forts, Newburg and Northfield- -Plans, 34-39. Ancient 
Forts, Medina County, Ohio, at Weymouth and Granger, 40-41. Ancient Fort near 
Painesville, 42. Fortiticd Hill near Conneiut — Plan, 43. Resemblance to the Moque 
Towns in New Mexico, 45. 

WHITE MEN NOT RECOGNIZED IN HISTORY.— Ancient Ax Marks, Canfield, 
Newburg, Willougliby, Berlin, 47-51. 

RACE OF RED MEN.— Algonquius and Iroquois as first seen by the French, .53-55. 
The Eries and the Andantes, 50. The French on Lake Erie, 57-58. Destruction of 
the Eries, Narrative of Black Snake, .59. They Challenge the Iroquois — The Iroquois 
Champions, OO-OL The Contest — Iiqquoia Victorious, 62-63. Revenge of the Eries, 
and their betrayal, fi4-()5. They are inet by the Iroquois and defeated. 66-67. Total 
route and destruction of the Eries, 68-69. Sketch of Black Snake— English pledges 
to the Indians, 70-71 

CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER OF EVENTS,— From 1535 to 1786, 73-76. 

EARLY MAPS OF THE LAKE COITNTRY.— Champlain's Maps, 1634— Copy of a 
Portion, 77-80. Lewis Evans Map, 1755— Copy of a Portion, 81-81. Location of th(^ 
Indian fribes — Huskc's and Hntchins' Maps, 85-87. 

KXPEDIl IONS OF ROGERS, WILKIXS AND BRADSTREET.— ^lajor Rogers, 1760 
— Meeting with Pontiac, 89-91. Geographical Uncertainties — Confusion as to Rivers 
— Historical Error as to the Place of Meeting — Rogers" Journal- Parkman— Sir Wm. 
Johnson, 91-94. French Fort at Sandusky— MajorVVilkins, 1763, 95. 

DISASTERS OF WILKINS AND BRADSTREET, BY DR. J. P KIRTLAND.— Lo- 
cation of the Shipwreck — Wilkins Expedition, 97-99. He reaches lake Erie — Major 
MoncriefTe- Historical Notices — Point aux Pins, 100-101. Relics of a Wreck at 
Rocky River — Manner of its Occurrence— Remains of an old camj} at Rocky River, 
102-104. Bradstreets Expedition and Shipwreck, 1764 — Parkmans Account, 10.5-106. 
Their Return — Censure of Bradstrcet— Sir Wm. Johnson — How the Boats were Lost 
— McMahons Beach, 107-109. Remains of Accoutrements and Boats, Gun Flints — 
Major Israel Putnam — Their track Homeward — Bradstreet's Death, 110-113. Relics 
at McMahons Run and Rocky River described — Bayonets, Knives, Bullets, Cannon 
H:ills, iMuskets, Tomahawks, Coin, Sur2;ical Knife," Spoons, and Skeletons, 114- 
120 Burial of their dead, Tnnmltis Containing their Bones — An Indian among them 
« 'onflicting views as to the locality of Wilkins Disaster — Point aux Pins on the North 
Shore — Major Moncriefl'e"s Statement— Onotations from the New Port JMercnry, 1763, 
12.5-126. Lieutenant (lorrcHV Journal. 1763 — The Rocky River I?elics, probably Brad- 
streets. 



Vi CONTENTS. 

FIRST WHITES IN CUYAHOGA COUNTY.— Jamca Smith, Mary Campbell, Joseph 
Du Shattars Trading House in Brooklyn— Baptiste Fleming, Joseph Biirrall, 131-132, 

MORAVIANS IN CUYAHOGA COUNTY, 1780-7.— They leave Detroit in ITSfi-Arrive 
at Huron— Reach the Cuyahoga— Schooners Beaver and Mackinaw— Seat themselves 
at Tinker^^ Creek, or I'ilirt'rruli— Zeisberuerand Ileckcweklcr, I:i5-13~. TheDelawares 
persecute I hem— Tliev aliaiuloii ]'ili;crruh, l:iS-l;3ll. The Massacre on the Muskin- 
muu, lTS-.>— Their Jou'rney to Pet(iuottinL;— Driven from thence to Canada, 140-141. 
Their return to the Musluugum, 17'.I8— Missionaries iu Ohio, 1761 to 1803, 14-i-144. 

t)RIGIN OFTITLE.— Early Claims of European Nations— Title hy Possessi(m— French 
and Kn^lish, 145-147. Claimsof the Plyniouth and London Companies, I4S. Conflict 
of the Colonial claims, 14!t Earl Warwicks deed— Patent of Conm'cticut, 150-151. 
Cessions In' the Indians— Title hy Conquest, 1.5-2-153. Old Colonial Difficulties revi- 
ved— ConllietinLr Claims, 154-155. The Soldier Pioneers— Early Laud Speculations— 
Various Routes to the West, 150-157. Conflict of Jurisdiction— Salt Spring Tract— 
Relinquishment by Connecticut, 158. Attempts to sell in 1780— Propositions for sale, 
1787— Sale to Parsons, 15i). (General S. II. Parsons— People on the Reserve resist 
Taxation, KiO-lOl . Mode and Terms of Sale, 1795— List of Purchasers, 102-164. 

THE CONNECTICUT LaND COMPANY.— Deeds, Bonds and Mortgages— Trustees of 
the Company—The Excess Company, 105-10(i. Political Rights of the Company- 
Articles of Association, 107. The First Directors- Plan of Survey, 108. Names of 
the Agents and Surveyors— Mode of Partition, lOSI. Six Reserved Townships— Dralts, 

SURVEYS OF 17'.I0.— Journal of John Milton Ilollev, 171. From Connecticut to Can- 
andaigua, 17«;. (Jeneral Cleavelanil at Canandaigun, 173. Oswego, Little Sodus, Ger- 
undigut, or Ironduquoit, 171. XiaLr;ini Falls, Chippewa, Biillalo Creek, 175. Capt. 
Brant, RedJacket, Farmers Brother-Tliev hold aCouncil, 170-177. Bull'alo toPresque 
Isio — lounial ofSetli IV;isc, 178. I.atiliid'e ol Butlalo Crei'k— Cattaraugus, 17'.t. Cat- 
taraugus lo Conneaitt—l''(Mirth of .Inly, 1 7i 10, 180. Journal of Moses <'leaveland— The 
Celebration, 181-18-.'. Holds a Treaty with Paqua— Mutual Speeches and Compli- 
ments; I' 5. Conneaut Creek in 17!I0, by Amzi Atwater— Plan— Camp of the Survey- 
ors— Boats and Store House, 184-185. Instructions of the Directors to Cleaveland, 
187-188. List of the Agents, Surveyors, and Men, July, 17!)l), 18ii. 

MODE OF EXECUTING THE SURVEYS.— Township Lines-Uolleys Journal, 191- 
19'i. Porter, Ilolley, Pease, Warri'u and Spall'ord— They go down the Pennsyl- 
vania Line, 1'.I3-1'.)1." Their severe Experience— t'haraeter of the Country, 195-190. 
The Parties I'uited— They cross the Shi'iKUigo River, 1!»7. Recross the ShenanM- 
They are Wet and Ihiconifortible, 1118 -ii)!i. Reach the Mahoning and find Settlers 
near the line, 200-201. Establish the Soulh-Easf eoriu-r of the Reserve- Commence 
Running the first four Meridians. '2[)-i. .New Powers given to the Agent— Committee 
on Partition, 203. Induieinents to Settlers— TIk- Lake Shore Survey— Mode of Equal- 
ization and Partition, -,'l>l--,!l)."i. Their Mxpeiienceon the Meridians— Arrive at the Lake, 
20li--207. General Cleavi'land and -loshua Stow— They start for t'leveland in Boats- 
Enter the Cuyahoga, 2t)8--20'.». Their first Cabin— An old Trading House— Job P. 
Stiles and his Wife, 210-211. Pour Parallels Commenced — Survey of the Lake Shore 
Continued Westward — Misfortunes at the Chagrin River, 212--)13. 

HOLLEYS JOITRNAL ON 'I'HE PARALLELS.— From the Pennsylvania Line West- 
ward — Mistakes the Chagrin for the Cuyahoga River, 215-210. Surveys on Township 
Lines — HoUey reaches Cuyahoga, 217. \arialion of the Compass — Out of Provisions 
—Start for Conneaut—MtH't the l>oats with Stons, '.'-Jii. Return to Cleveland— Pur- 
suit of a Bear — Allotment of Cleveland Township, 221. Surveys in Mentor — Chagrin 
River to Cuyahoga, 22-i. Capt. Perry— Cleveland 100 Acre Lots Finished— Close of 
Season, 2-i'!, Amzi Atwater — Biographical Notice By L. V. Bicrce of Akron, 2-2.5-297. 
Atwaters Diiiry and Statement Relating to the Surveys, 2-38-229. Difficulty with the 
Eniploves— t)rrin Harmons Statement — .Vrrangement made at Cleveland, Sept. 30th, 
17'.H1, •-'.•!i)-'J31. Settlenu-nt Dues in Euclid- Proceedings of the Employes, •2;i2-23:j. 
Augustus Porter's Plan of Disposing of the City Lots, 23-1. 

FALL OF 179C. AND WINTER FOLLOWlN(;,-Unfinished Work, 235. Causes of the 
the Delay— Dissatisfaction of the Men, -230. Allotment of Cleveland— Sales of Lots, 
237. Original Plan of the City— Fac Simile of Same, -2;!8-239. Orii_'inal Streets— First 
Purchasers of Lots, '240. Pease's Field Notes and Miips— Original nanie of the City- 
Pease's Hotel, 241. Disappearance of Oiiirinal Field Notes and Maps— Departure of 
the Surveyors, Oct. 18, 17'.M^—Holleys Journal, -J42. Journey down the Lake— Settle- 
ment by the Canandaigua Company— (Jrand River, 143-144, Burning Spring in the 
Lake— Phey reach (.'(mneaut, 215. Arrive at Erie— Buffalo Creek— NiagaraT 24(^-247. 
Voya'^e down Lake Ontario -Genesee River— (ierundiuut-Camuidaigua, 248. John 



CONTENTS. vii 



Milton Holley, 249. Moses Cleaveland, By F. Wadsworth, 250-251. Job P. Stiles Hiid 
Wife, Edward Paine, 252. The Settlement in Willoiighby— Pease's Journal, 253. 
Pease Reaches Home— Meeting of the Directors, 2.53. Dissatisfaction of the Stock- 
holders — The Excess Company — Porter's Computation, 255. 

CiUANTITY OF LAND IN THE PURCHASE.— Porter's Report— Collapse of the Ex- 
cess Compan)% 257. Computations of Leonard Case and Simon Perkins, 258. Cor- 
rected results— Quantity of Arable Land, 25!». Want of a Civil Government, 260. 
Barr'sMS.,— Events at Conneaut—Ogontz and Seneca, 261. James Kini,'sbury and 

Family at Conneaut, 21)2. Their suft'eriuirs — Winter of 1796-7 — Kinfisburvs al)si'nce 

Mrs. G«n, 253. Distressini; Death of aii Infant Child— Its Burial, 164-2fi'5. A Lucky 
Shot— Return of the Surveyors, 1797, 2(i(;. Kingsbury moves to Cleveland— The Old 
Tradins House— Settlers on the Ridge, 267. Obituary Notice of Kinjrsbury, Dec. 15. 
1847, 268-273. 

SURVEYING PARTY OF 1797.— List of the Party— Seth Pease Principal Surveyor, 275 
-276. His Journal — Journey through New York, 277. Fort Stanwix — Oswego Falls 
— Canandaigua, 278. The Land Party to Buttalo— Water Party to Niagara, 280-281. 
Drowning and Burial of David Eldridge— Other Boats Arrive, 282. Parties Preparing 
for the Woods— List of Supplies, 283. Orders to the Surveying Parties— Pease move's 
up the Cuyahoga, 284-28.5. Pack Horse Lost— Aliignetii- Variation— At the Peninsula, 
286. Arrives at the Upper Head-Quarters— Prepares for the Woods, 287. Pease and 
Party reach the Salt Springs and South Line of the Reserve, 288. Variations of the 
Compass— Moses Warren's Diary, 289. Survey of the Portage Path— Meeting with 
Pease, 290. Survey of the Out Lots, Cleveland, 291-292. 

STATEMENT OF AMZI ATWATER.— Ascent of the Mohawk— Passage of Oswego 
Falls — Takes the Horses and Cattle from Canandaigua to Buffalo— Arrives at Conneaut. 
Reaches Cleveland with the Animals— Deatli of P^ldridge— Proceeds to Tinkers Creek^ 
295-297. Indian \isit()rs at Upper IIead-t^u;irters— They are Importunate for Whis- 
ky. 298-299. Sickness and Deaths in the Partv, 300-301. Address of L. V Bierce— 
Sickness and Death of Bieknell, 302-305. Death of Joseph Tinker— The Sick List at 
Clevehind, 306-307. Mr. Pease Severely Sick— Mr. Warren in Charge, 308-309. Allot- 
ment of the Six Townships— Pease's Journal— Ho leaves the Cuyahoga Oct. 3d, 1797, 
.310-311. Journey to Conneaut — -John Young arrives there, 312. Shipwreck of Tinker' 
Pearce and Edwards— Murder of George Cliirk on the Beaver, 313. Spafibrd and his 
Party leave Conneaut, Oct. 2Jth— Mr. Pease and liis Party, Oct. 31 st, 314. They reach 
Buftalo — Latitude and Longitude of Cleveland., 315. No Minerals Discovered on the 
Reserve by the Surveyors, 316. The Surveyors Meet at Canandaigua and Report- 
Proceedings of the Land Company, January, 1798 — Grants to Mrs. Stiles, Gun and 
Wife, and Kingsbury and Wife, 317. Lorenzo Carter, By Judge Ban- — Death of Wash- 
burne— Buildings in Cleveland, 1797— Early Burials, 318^320. 

SKETCHES OF THE SUR\'EYORS AND PIONEERS.— Ezekiel Morley, by Alfred 
Morley, 322. Lot Sanford, by A. W. and R. W. Perry— The First (warden— Sanford"s 
Companions, 323-325. Oliver Culver, 326-328. Seth Pease, by Ralph Gran<i-er 329- 
330. Nathaniel Doan, 331-332. Elijah Gun, .3.33, Letter of Augustus Porter,'l843, 
334. Work on the Meridians— Wild Honey, 335. Strike among the men— Traverse 
of the Lake Shore, .336. Survey of Streets and Lots in Cleveland, 337. Traverse of 
the Cuyahoga River, 3-37. Lorenzo Carter, by Ashbel W. AValworih, 339. History of 
Ben, the Negro, 340-;M2. No one allowed t(j run away from Cleveland, ;W3-344. An- 
cient Mouth of the Cuyahoga— Carter as a Regulator," .345-341). Amos Spaflord, by H. 
L. Hosmer, 347. Peter Manor— Sack of Perrysburg, 1812, ;i48-349. Sacamanc, the 
Faithful Indian, 350. Spatibrds Losses by the War, 351-352. 

THE YEAR 17.18.- Proceedings of the Land Company, .35.3-.3.54. Sickness— Home 
Made Remedies— Faithfulness of Seth Doan— Graham Flour, 365 356. 

THE YEAR 1799.— Doan's Corners— Newburg— Early Settlers. 357. 

THE YEAR 1800.— Turhand Kirtland— Erection of Trumbull County— First Election, 
858. Organization of Cleveland Township, .359. First Justices and Constables— First 
School, 360. Letter of J. A. Ackley — Lorenzo Carter — His Journey to Ohio, 361-362. 
Letter of James Hillman — Cleveland in 1786,363. Indian Trail— Death of a Pack- 
horseman— The Salt Springs— Trumbull County, 364-365. Salt Boilers driven away 
by Soldiers in 1785— Murder of Kribs, 366. Boundaries of Cuyahoga County, and Sub- 
sequent Changes, 367-369. Viewof Cleveland Under the Iliil in 1800, 370-371. (Oil- 
man Bryants Letter— The first Distillery— Williams Mill at Newburg, 372-373. A Pio- 
neer Dance — An Indian Dog Feast, .374-.375. Letter of Turhand Kin land, Cleaveland, 
July, 1800, 376. Settlers Greatly Dissatisfied— Price of City Lots, 377-378. Samuel 
Huntington Visits Cleveland— His Diary, 379. 



Viii CONTENTS. 

THE YEAR 1801.— Fourth of July C'olobiatioii— The flrst Storo, ;58()-3.Sl. JoBcph Badjr- 
cr Visits Clevehuid— Spatl'ords Ke-Survcy of the Streets— Saniiicl lIuntiiiKtou and 
Family— His rolitieal Advancemeut, ;W2-a83. 

'I'HE YEAR 1802.— Blankets made of Hair— First Township Election, 384-385. An At- 
tack by the Wolves— Tavern Licenses in Cleveland, 38C.-;iST. Slow Sales of Lands- 
Original owners of Cleveland, 388. 

'1"HE YEAR 1803.— Improved health of the I'laco— Whisky husiness under the Hill, ;Wt 
■ 3.10. Murder of Mcuonipsv. a Mediiiiio Man— lie is aci used of Mai Practice, :]'.)\. lie 
is Slabbed by Bii; Son, a hiilf brother of Stii,'\vaiiisli, or Seneca, 31)2. The C'hii)i)ewas 
and Ottawas beiitupon Reveuiiie- t;arter Ke^'otiates- 'I'heir Fury Appeased by Whis- 
ky, 3!)3. Stateaient of Alouzo Carter— The lirst Marriaue, 4'M. Witness to the Heath 
of Menompsy, 3!t5. The first Warehouse- Browning of Henry Carter, 3!)(j-3'.»7. 

THE YE.\R 1801.— Military Election and Remonstrance, 3',)8-3'.)'.». 

THE YEAR 1805.— Indian Cession of Lands West of the Cuyahoga— Letter of Wni. 
Dean, 400-401. Abram Tappens account of the Treaty, 402-403. i'rediction of CJideon 
Cirauger— Military Election and Voters, 404-405. 

THE YEAR 180C>.— Shipwreck of the Hunter Family and Black Ben, 407. Surveys 
West of the Cuvahoga River— Tappen's Proposition, 408-10!». "I'appen's Accouni — 
Surveyors at Cleveland- South Line of the Reserve Continued by Seth Pease, 4U)-411. 
E.\ces"sive Drougth— The Fire Lands— Committee on iMjualization, 412. Custi)in 
House at Cleveland— First Clearance, 413-114. 

THE YEAR 1807.— Judge Huntington and Family— Oilur Hesidenis. Imildings, etc., 
414-115. Munler of Nickshaw— Account by (ieneral \\ adsworth and Judge lIuutinL:- 
tou— SeHecas Ideas of Justice, 41ti-418. Edward PaineV Xol ice of Seneca, alias Slii:- 
wauish, 41i». Lottery for the Improvement of the Muskingum Rivers— Huntington 
Elected Governor— the Fourth Draft, 420-423. 

THE YEAR 1808.— Shipwreck of Plumb, Gilmore, (iilbert, Spallbrd and Mary Billinger 
—Rescue of Plumb, 424-425. 

THl*: YEAR ISO!).— Amos Spafl'ord -Description of Cleveland by Stanley Griswold, 
United States Senator, 43;)-427. Brooklyn I'ownship Surveyed— Settlers in Newburg , 
by John Harmon, 428-421). 

FROM 1810 TO 1812.— The Count v Organized— The lirst County Court— Foreshadow- 
in<'s of War— Major Jessup. 430^431. Map of Clevleand in 1814, bv Spaft'ord and Kel- 
]y,'^434-435. Trial and Execution of 0':siic. bv Klisha Whittlesey, 4.37-142. Description 
of Cleveland in 1S13, bv Capt. Stanton Sholes, I12-(4i;. Statement of Mrs. Julianna 
liOni:, 44(i-l51. Biographical Notice of John Walworth and Mrs. Walworth, 451-4.54. 
Record of the First Settlers, 1700 to 1801, 4.54-4.55. Increase of Population, 1700 to 
186(1, 456. List of Collectors at Cleveland, 457. Early Lake Craft, 1671) to 1810, 457-ICO. 

PH)XEER KU'ER IMEN.- Early Views of the Importance of the Cuyaho'jfa River, 46! . 
First Forwarders. Duncan & Wilson, ^S(^—^.atteau^i Navigation. 4(:2-4(;3. l\)it of 
Entrv in ISO,-)— Sehooner Zephvr, 1808— Warehou-^e-; are Erected and \ essels BuiU , 
464-16.5. Cleveland I'ier Company— The lirst Canal Boat, 46(i-467. The Days of Penn- 
sylvania Wa"ons JMideil, 4(iS. The Villa^'e I'orporation and Officers, 460-470. Post 
Masters— Locations of the Post Otlice, 471-172. Court Houses of 1812 and 1828, 473- 
474. Ohio City— Battle of the Bridge— List of Mayors, 475-178. 

FLUCTUATIONS OF LEVBIL IN LAKE ERIE.— Annual Rise and Fall— Sudden Os- 
cillations 470-181. (Jeneral or Secular Fluctations— History of the Observations,M>'-2 
-183. Diagram and Explanations, 481-485. Amount of Rise and Fall— Lunar Tide, 

480-887. 



Kntered acoordiiig to Act of Congress, in the year 16ii7, 
Br C II A S . W H I T T L E S F Y , 

111 tho Clerk's OtHco of the District Court of the United States, for 
tJie Noi'theni District of Ohio. 



ILLUSTKATIONS. 



1. View of Clevehuul, from tlie West Side, by Thomas Whelpley, 

183:5. 
y. St. Clair Street, from Bank street, looking East. Whelpley, 1833. 
'A. Superior Street, from the Public S(iuare, looking West. Whelpley 

1833. 
4 Euclid Street, looking West, near tlie Public Square. Whelpley, 

183.3. 
5. Stockley's Pier, from the Harljor, looking East. J. Brainard, 18.")0. 
(5. Columbus Street Bridge, from Detroit street, 183o. 

7. Plan of Cleveland, and Geological Profile, illustrating the 

encroachments of the f.ake, from 179G to 1842, - - page 14, 

8. Fac Simile of Ice-polished Rocks, ----- 24. 

9. Ancient Fort, Newburg, ------- 35. 

10. Ancient Fort, Northfield, Summit county, Ohio, - - - 37. 

11. Ancient Fort, Weymouth, Medina county, Ohio, - - - 40. 

12. Ancient Fort, near Conueaut, Ashtabula county, Ohio, - 43. 

13. Portion of Champlain's Map of 1634, ----- 78. 

14. Portion of Lewis Evans' Map of 175.1, ----- 83. 

15. Mouth of Conneaut Creek, in 179(!, . . . . . i85. 

16. First Map of Cleveland, Oct. 17%, - - . . . 239. 

17. Cleveland under the hill, in 1800, - - . . . . 371. 

18. Map of Cleveland in 1814, ------- 4.34. 

19. Diagram, representing the Fluctuations in Lake level, - 484. 



EXPLANATION OF THE VIEWS. 

1. -CLEVELAND, FRO>[ THE WEST SIDE.— «, Erie House, on the canal.— 
b, Old Bethel Church, on the side hill, in line with the Coui't House.— 
(•' Mouth of Ohio Canal, in line with the Stone Church. — >/, End of Superior 
Lane, on the River. — e, iLindrakc Street.—/, Stone Flouring Mill and Light 
House. — ff, Mouth of the River. 

2.— ST. CLAIR STREET, LOOKING EAST.— «, Court House.— 6, Stone 
Church. — c, Trinity Cluirch, corner of Seneca Street. — d, Academy. 

3.— PUBLIC SQUARE, LOOKING WEST.— a, Trinity Church.— J, Governor 
Wood's OfHce. — c, Light House. — d, Cleveland Hotel. — e. Commercial Bank 
and Marlcct, Bank Street.—?, Stone Residence of Dr. Long, corner ot Supe- 
rior and Seneca. 

4.— EUCLID STREET. LOOKING WEST.— rt, Residence of Hon. .7. W. 
Allen, on Public Square.— J, S.one Cliurch and Trinity.— c, Court House. 

5.— STOCKLEY'S PIER.— a, Light House.— ?*, Ashtabula Rail Road Shop. 

6._C0LUMBCS STREET BRIDGE, from Detroit Street. 



14 



i 



^' / 



> * ' 



r 



?-^ 



^1 



'6 



■ n 
O 

M 




'' h-1 



PRE-ADAMITE HISTOllY. 



History, under a strict definition, should include 
nothing more than the record of human transactions, 
but I here venture to introduce an ai'ticle which re- 
lates principally to natural science. 

The wells, springs, cisterns, and sewei*s ; the gen- 
ei'al improvement of our streets; the protection of 
the lake shore and the state of our harbor, are all 
influenced by the geological stiiicture beneath us. 
I imagine, also, that it will be interesting to look 
V)riefiy at the cause of the most recent geological 
changes. 

On the gravelly plain which was selected l>y the 
surxeyors in 179(5 as the site of a future city, there 
are nmnerous low, sandy ridges, which are parallel 
to the shc»re of the lake. These rido;es were the 
first roads of the pioneers on their way to the west. 
They appear to have been formed beneath the surface 
of the water at a remote period, when the lakes had 
a nuich higher level than now. On all sea coasts 
long, narroNv sand-bars are known to form, a short 
distance from the shore and parallel with it. Their 



10 ERA OF CONTINENTAL ICE. 

position is indicated to tlie navigator by the outer 
line of breakers. The formation upon which this 
city rests is geologically the most recent of all, 
except the alluvium. 

There are trees, sticks, and leaves imbedded in it, 
Avliich have not yet perished ; but in reference to the 
period of written history its era is very ancient. It 
^vas formed after the earth had assumed substan- 
tially its present surface, in a topographical sense. 
Geological investigations show conclusively, that 
since the era of the coal, the chalk formations, and 
even the tertiary beds, there was in the northern 
hemisphere, north of about 40^, a period of univer- 
sal ice; as there is noAV in Greenland. 

As that frozen age was disappearing the more 
ancient and solid rocks of the Carboniferous, Devo- 
nian and Silurian ages, on which the universal glacier 
rested and moved ; were ground do\^^I, scoured and 
polished. The crushed and pulverized materials of 
the rocks form what is commonly called earth, as 
distimruishable from indurated strata. In the north- 
ern hemisphere, the ice movement was toward the 
south, Avhicli carried the fragments of rocks and their 
mixed debris, in the form of dirt, always towards 
the equator. 

In this way we have here pieces of rocks desig- 
nated as " boulders " or lost rocks ; which were 
originally in place on the shores of lake Superior or 
Hudson's Bay. Our soil is composed of the disinte- 



COMPOSmoK OF THE DRIFT. 



il 



grated particles of these rocks, mingled with the 
crushed portions of strata nearer home. The surface 
formation on Avhich the city stands belongs to the 
close of the ice period when the glacial masses were 
disappearing, and the waters were assimiing their 
present level over the land. It is sometimes called 
"post-tertiary," or "quaternary," but more often 
"northern drift." There are in it no rocky beds, 
although it is frequently stratified, and laminated. 
The waters from which, by a joint action witli 
moving ice, it was transported and deposited, were 
throughout the upper lake country wholly fresh. 
Numerous shells have been found in it, all of which 
])elong to fresh, and none to sea water. Nearer the 
ocean, the shells of the drift are of marine origin. 
Throughout all the region of the upper lakes, there 
are numberless trees, logs, sticks, branches and leaves 
scattered through the drift fonnation. It is com- 
posed of red, blue and dun colored clay, on which 
rests coarse sand, gravel and boulders. 

By an analysis of the laminated blue clay taken 
from the foot of Ontario street, made some years 
since, it was found to contain : 

Silex and Ahimina, 77.50 

Carbonate of lime, G.OO 

Carbonate of magnesia, 9.50 

Sulphide of iron, ."^.SO 

Vegetable matter and loss, ........ 3.50 

lOO.OO 



12 



LOWEUmn (W THK AN(^T1;NT WATERS. 



All analysis of tlie rod laminated clay of lakt' 
Superior gave a similar result, exee])t in reoard to 
the red oxide of iron which exceeds that of the lake 
Erie clay, and which is the cause of its red color. 

The drift clays always contain alkalies, sometimes 
ill sufHcient quantities to ])revent their heing used for 
the })urpose of making l)rick. 

Sometimes it changes to a compact hard-pan, com- 
posed of clay and fragments of rocks. There are 
houlders and ])el)l)les of northern rocks throughout 
the whole mass. In many ])laces it is not stratified, 
hut mixed and confused like the moraines of Alpine 
glaciers now being formed. There are places in tlie 
valleys of the up]>er lakes where the drift is (lOO 
and 800 feet thick, Imt her(\ it is ])rol)ably nowhei'e 
more than 150 feet, down to the underlying rock. 
When lake Erie I'eceded to its jn'csent level, its 
ancient l)ed was partly iiicline<l like the rim of a 
basin sloping towards the water. 

The mouths of the rivers were fartlier out than 
now, the lake was smaller in size and its shore line 
quite different. Where the shoi-e was composed of 
marly clays, as it is along much of its outline, 
the waves made rapid ini-oads upon it and the soft 
materials were dispersed by currents that exist in all 
Ixxlies of water. Thei'c is a tradition that when tlu^ 
French first coasted along the soutli shore of lake 
Erie, the Indians 7'emeni])ered when there was no 
outlet at the present mouth of the Cuyahoga I'iver. 



-KNCROACHMKNTS TPON TIIK SITOUK, 1 :', 

It discharged at tlie old mouth one mile west, and 
the point of the l)luff extending westerly from the 
light liouse then interposed between the river and 
the lake. A mound, the remains of this point is 
represented in the sketch made by Capt. Gaylord in 
the year 1 800. It remained at nearly the same 
height when I first saw it in 1827. 

Operating upon such material as the blue marly 
clay, the encroachments of the lake w^ere rapid. On 
the Canada shoi-e opposite Cleveland the formation 
is the same and its destruction equally rapid. The 
remains of soldiers who were buried near the crest 
of the bank in the war of 1812 were in 183() found 
to be at the water's edge. As the lake gained upon 
the shore its banks })ecame higher, o-wing to the 
inclinati(^n of the land towards the watei'. The 
surface of the lake has a fluctuation of level which 
(hiring a period of nineteen years, from 1819 to 
1 888, amounted to six feet and nine inches. When 
the water of the lake is high it has more erosive 
action upon the shore than when it is low. By the 
above analysis the blue clay deposite is shown to l)e 
principally fine sand, with merely clay enough to 
cement it. It also contains lime enough to give it 
a marly character. 

When soaked with water the mass which in a dry 
state is compact and hard, becomes soft and yieldin''- 
like quicksand. 

The plan and profile which is here inserted, 
explains the mode of encroachment. 



14 



ENCROAOIIMKNTS tLLHSTUATED. 



LAKE 



ERIE 




ILLUSTRATING THE CHANGES 
OF THE SHORE UN E: A T 

CLEVELAND 

^ " OHIO 

BY CQL.CHA? WHITTLESEY 

BED9BYM.T.ALLARDT 

WATERS-SON SC.N.Y. . 



Profile of the Blue Clay, along Bank Street, Cleveland, Ohio, showing 
the land slips and mode of encroachment. 




HATEf^S-SO/V -VC./V.t. 



TLLUSTKATIONS OF THE MAP AND I'KOFLLE. 15 



NOTES FOR THE MAP. 

a, a, a, Ancient position of the river :ind shore line. 
I), b, b, Position of river and sliore line, 17I)G. 
f, c, c, Lagoons old river bed, o springs. 

d. Outlier of the Blufl's, e, e, e, e. 

e, e, e, Clay bluffs and slides— ancient and modern, 
a^, Perry Monument, in Public Square. 

h, i, Imaginary shore line at the close of lOOO years, 
without artificial protection. _ 



NOTES FOR THE PROFILE ON BANK STREET. 

A, A, Sand and gravel stratum. 

a, a, a, Slide of October, 184<J. 

b, b, Older slides on the River side. 

c, f. Layers of clay and sand. 

1 , Bones and grinder of an elephant. 

2, Position of trees sticks and leaves. 



16 LAND SLIPS. 

There is in the clay very little tenacity in a dry 
state and thus when the waves have dissolved and 
carried away the foot of the })ank it breaks down by 
its o^vIl \veight. A long narrow strip of land at the 
crest, suddenly drops M\ 20 oi* ^50 feet, pushing 
the previous slips, cf, a, a, before it into the lake. 
The shore line is temporarily carried forward and a 
l)ar of clay rises above the water leN'el. At the top 
of the impervious clay bed the surtace water which 
has settled through the sandy stratum, .1, A, exudes 
everywhere in the form of springs. This water 
follows the crevices of the slides continually carrying 
the materials into the lake. 'J'he Avaves act rapidly 
upon the foot of the slope, softening and carrying 
away the part which was forced up from its bed. If 
the lake surface tails aAvay, a sand ])each is foi-med, 
consisting of coarse littoi'al materials, acting as a 
protection to the clay and (juicksand. Thus for a 
time the shore line remains unchanged ; but a series 
of storms or a rise in the water, renews the luider- 
mining process, and new slides occur. 

When tlie city was sui'veyed tlie sliorc liiic was 
hiid down )>y measurement on tlie town plat. A 
reduced copy of this survey made from the original 
which bears date, Cleveland, Oct. 1st 1 7IX), is also 
inserted among the illustrations. 

The })lan shows what changes ha\e occurred since 
tlie lake assumed its ])resent general level. 



LAND SLn>S. 17 

During the liigli water of 1838, the advance of the 
hike waters upon the town site, was so rapid that 
the corporation took measures to protect it. By 
comparing the surveys of 1796 and 1842 there had 
been a general encroachment of two huiulred and 
five (205) feet. In 1800 or 1807, Amos Spafford 
sent his hired man, Avith a yoke of oxen to plow a 
patch of ground on the margin of the lake, which 
must liave been not far from the Marine Hospital. 
At noon, the man chained his team to a tree, fed 
them, and Avent home to dinner. Returniutr in 
the afternoon, his oxen were no where to be seen. 
Proceeding to the edge of the bank, the man discov- 
ered tliem still attached to the tree, quietly chewing 
their cuds, Init the ground on Avliich they stood had 
sank between twenty and thirty feet, carrying 
Avitli it some of the \m\y furrows, the trees and 
the oxen. Thus a belt of land about twelve and 
one half (120 rods in width was lost, along the 
entire front of the city. In one hundred years 
this would at the same rate have amounted to 
twenty-seven (27) rods. It would, in about five 
hundred years, have undermined the Perry monu- 
ment. Before the close of a thousand years that 
part of the town north of Huron Street would 
have disa])peared. The supposed new shore line 
and mouth of the river is shown l)y the line h, i, on 
the plan. 

2 



18 REMAINS OF THE ELEPHANT. 

As the ancient surface of the hike went down, the 
Cuyahoga river cut a deep channel in the drift cLay, 
Avith steej) l)anks from which numberless springs 
issued. The ever shifting cliannels of streams under- 
mine their l)anks continually, l)ut in a different 
manner and with less regularity than tlie lake waters. 
On the river side the same slides have occurred, ])ut 
not as many in nund)er for the encroachment is 
not as rapid. Only one luis been known since the 
settlement of the city, which took place near tlie 
foot of Light-House street, about the year 1808. 
Evidences of ancient slips were, however, abundant 
on both banks throughout the city. There were the 
same succession of Trenches or terraces, on the river 
as on the lake side. Wherever excavations took 
place for the grade of streets, the extent and exact 
outline of the old slides were as apparent as those 
of 1849, which were observed and sketched at 
the time. By means of heavy ])iling and stone on 
the lake front, the advance of tlie water has been 
wholly stopped. By taking up the sjn-ings that 
issue at the surface of the clay, and grading the bank 
to an angle of al;)out 15°, a smooth grassy slope is 
obtained, adapted for a jiark of excpiisite l)eauty. 
Grinders of the elephant and mastodon are connnon 
in the superficial materials, which cover the indui-a- 
ted rocks of the west. A grinder is said to have 
been found in blue marly clay on the West Side 
many years since. Remains of the elephas prinii- 



BURTED TIMBER. 10 

genius, the mastodon, megatlieriuni, megalonyx, the 
horse, l)eavei', and some other animals, characterize 
the drift period. Tliey existed prior to that geologi- 
cal era, and through it to the alluvium, in which 
their bones are also found. They Ijecame extinct 
after the earth had taken its present condition. The 
elephant, whose bones were discovered a few years 
since, in dis-erino; the coal vaults of the Merchants 
Bank, was about twelve feet below the natui'al 
sui-i^ice. Another grinder of an extinct elephant 
was l^rought to light in the grade of Champlain 
street, which was about fifteen feet beneath the 
surftxce. It was secured l^y Dr. E. Sterling, and is 
now in the possession of Prof. Newberry. This 
grinder had been worn by transportation, partially 
into the form of a rolled boulder ; but the outlines 
are not wholly destroyed and the internal structure 
remains easily recognizable. 

Pieces of buried timber, sometimes whole trees 
with numerous leaves, also characterize the north- 
ern drift. Layers of this ancient vegetation extend 
l^eneath the entire city. The wells from which 
water was originally procured, were sunk through 
the sand and gravel bed, A, A, to one of the 
impervious layers, c^ c, where water is always found. 
It was frequently impure and even offensive, from 
the rotten layer which lies at the surface of the 
clay. There is more or less of it, distnl^uted in 
thin dark layers through the clay, but it has col-- 



^0 ALPINE GLACrERS. 

lected ill larger quantities at its sui-fiice. A white 
cedar, twenty (20) feet in length and six (G) 
inches in diameter, was taken up l)y the late 
John Wills, at the depth of eighteen (18) feet, 
in grading the bank at the Marine Hospital. The 
roots and some of the branches remainetl, and 
its strength was not wholly gone. There were 
several shorter pieces of ancient drift wood, found 
at about the same depth, which show the wearing 
action of the ancient surf upon a sand beach, like 
pieces of floodwood upon the present shore. Among 
the leaves in the mucky layers are cedar, spruce, 
and pine; and these are the most common kinds 
of timber, found in the drift material at other places. 

To persons ^^'llo have not become familiar, by 
observation, with the changes that have occurred on 
our planet, the assertion that there has been a period 
when this region was enveloped in ice, from 2,000 to 
3,000 feet in thickness may aj)j)ear monstrous. 

To those who have examined the evidences which 
exist, in more than half the counties of this State, in 
support of such a conclusion; the proof is as conclu- 
sive as it is, that in Switzerland, the glaciers of the 
Alps, at one time reached do^vn into the valley of 
the Rhone. 

The slight changes of temperature which occur 
there now, affect the extent of the glaciers. A few 
degrees I'ise in the thermometer; diminishes the area 



GLACIERS TN GREENLAND. 21 

of the ice fields; and a few degrees of depression 
enlarges it. 

In ancient times, Alpine glaciers extended across 
the valley at (reneva lake, carrying boulders of rocks 
from the summit of the Kange, which were dropped 
in the low ground, when the ice disappeared. 

Beneath the present glaciers, the rocks are pol- 
ished, ground and striated, l)y the projecting points 
of boulders; firmly held in the ice, as it moves 
towards the lower levels. The rocks in districts 
from which the ice has disappeared, and where there 
are now cultivated farms and cities, are ^vorn and 
striated in the same manner. 

Greenland has within a few years been closely 
observed l)y Dr. Rink, a Danish naturalist and by 
Dr. Hayes, of tlu^ American expedition under Dr. 
Kane. There, a large i)ai't of a continent is found 
to sustain a vast glacier; which has a slow but 
resistless motion outward toward the ocean. The 
cause of this niotion, constitutes one of the most 
brilliant discoveries of Agassiz. In Greenland, 
there is, in places, a fringe of territory next the se.-i, 
not invaded by ice; which is varial)le in its extern t, 
like that at the foot of the Alps. About 200 years 
since, the Moravians had mission establishments on 
the eastern coast of Greenland, which are now 
buried under snow and ice. The temperatui'e of 
that country is becoming lower. The great central 
field of universal frost, is gaining upon the territory 



22 ICE ETCIimOS ON LAKE ERIE. 

where vegetation exists. Towards the northern 
part, gLieiers come to tlie sea, with a front of more 
than a thousand feet liigli ; scratching and grinding 
tlie rocks precisely as tliey do in Switzerland. They 
})ush themselves ahmg the l)ottom of the ocean, 
until there is 1)uoyancy enough to cause tliem to 
float, when they are l)roken into large l»locks, and 
range the sea, in the form of ice l)ergs. 

It is only necessary to hring the temperature of 
Greenland down to our latitude, and the same results 
would follow. The moisture of the air dt^rived from 
the ocean, would be deposited upon the earth in the 
foi'm of snow, instead of rain. It would thus accu- 
mulate, century after century, filling up the valleys, 
rising to the tops of the mountains, effectually 
preventing the growth of trees, and ])lants, and 
thus gradually driving men and animals from the 
country. 

Throughout the western States and Canada, are 
lines etched upon the rocks, the same as are seen in 
Greenland and on the Alps ; produced l)y tlie move- 
ment of glaciers. They may he seen in hundreds of 
places in Ohio, when the rocky surface is cleared of 
its earthy covering. They are very common in the 
cellars at Sandusky, and on Kelly's Island, where 
the lime rock is thoroughly polished, having marked 
grooves, warped surfaces, and channels parallel to 
each other. 



ICE ETCIimCiS ON LAKE MICHIGAN. 23 

On tlie summit of Coal Hill in Tallmadge, Sum- 
mit County, Oliio, iit an elevation of G25 feet above 
Lake Erie, and 1181) al»ove tlie Ocean, tlie coarse 
grit of tlie coal series is smoothed and scratched 
over a sj)ace of several rods. 

At the old grindstone quarries in Euclid, Cuya- 
hoga County, they are very distinct and straight, 
bearing about South 20^ East Tjy needle. 

There is a good exposure of glacial etchings on 
the sand rock, near the North line of Austintown, 
Mahoning County, in the North and South center 
road. 

The most southerly point in Ohio where they have 
been oljserved ; is at Light's quarry, seven miles 
North of Dayton, their bearing being South 2C)^ East. 
For the benefit of those who have no opportunity to 
examine the work of the ancient ice gravers, I insert 
a reduced copy from the fac simile of a ])olished 
slab of limerock, near the Light House at Sheboygan, 
Wisconsin. The waters of Lake Michigan, are there 
wearing away a l;)luff of I'ed clay, of aljout the same 
height as the Idue clay deposite at Cleveland ; but 
the rock on which it rests is nearly level with the 
water. A belt of this scratched rock, several rods 
in ^vidth, recently uncovered, extends along the 
shore at the foot of the clay l)luff, beneath which 
the ice etchings extend. Al)out three miles in tlie 
interior, the Sheboygan Kiver has cut a channel in 
the same red clay down to the rock, which has a 



24 



ICE-POLISHED EOCK. 



depth about the same as the valley of the Cuyahoga, 
within the city limits. Where the rock projects 
beyond the clay, it is smoothed, and worn away by 
attrition, precisely as at the Light House, and the 
lines have the same direction. If the covering of 
clay, from the Sheboygan River to the lake shore 
was all cleared away, there would l)e several thou- 
sand acres of this polished rock exposed, of which 
this is intended to be a fac simile. 

NORTH. 




Tlie most conspicuous lines are due north-east and 
Houth-Avest, T)ut as usual, there is more than one 
set. Such is the condition of the strata over the 
States bordering upon the lakes and the St. Law- 
rence. During the progress of the various geolog- 



ICE ETCHINGS ON LAKE .AIICIIIGAN. 25 

icixl surveys in the Northern States, and in Canaihi, 
many hundreds of observations have been made, 
upon the direction of these lines. 

Where tliere are hard spots in the rocks, al)le to 
resist the grinding process better than the surround- 
ing parts ; a narrow ridge is left on the southerly 
side, like the snow which forms in the lee of a 
pebble in a driving storm. The northern laces 
of mountains, and of rocky eminences, are abraded, 
Av^hile the southern faces are not. But the most 
conclusive evidence that the movement was from 
North to South, is found in the transportation of 
fragments of northern rocks to points always south- 
erly from their position in situ. The boulders of 
Ohio are principally trap, gneiss, granite, breccia, and 
conglomerate ; from strata that are in place on the 
shores of Lake Superior, and which exist in no 
other direction. The movement was modified by 
the topography of the country, pursuing in general, 
the course of the great valleys, such as those of the 
Kennebec, the Connecticut, and the Hudson Rivers. 

In New England, the ice marks are found at an 
elevation of 3000 feet above the sea, which is higher 
than the highest land in the western states. 

In the valley of the St. Lawi'ence, the course of the 
movement was south-easterly until the east end of 
Lake Ontario is reached. At Buffalo, it was South 
30° West. On Lake Superior it had the same gen- 
eral bearing, except in the minor valleys, or where 



26 UK AC riON, LAKE Sl'TKRlOK. 

iiuMiiitains turiUHl it asido tt'iiiporarily. TheoiuMiiui!: 
l>i'twoeii Lake Iliirt>ii aiul Lako jMk'liiixaii, at tlu' 
Straits ot' Ma(.'kiiia\\ , ^avo it a wostcrly diivi'tion, as 
iar as tlio inoutli of (ii'coii l>a\. On tlio summil of 
the Iron Mountains ot* Marquette Couut\ , Mieliigan ; 
ot* the C\>{»j)er Kanue of l\nnt Kewenaw, anil the 
^lesabi Ivauiiv in ^linnesota, tlie niarkln^-s are as dis- 
tinct as they are at Lake Krie ; and tlieir l>earini;' is 
unit'ornily south-westerly. How the ellan^•e o{' teni- 
jti'rature, ot' the u-hieier e])oeli was hrouuht about is 
ji ([uestion still under diseussion. Such changes have 
occurred nuich earlier in the liistorv of tlie earth, and 
are probably due to astronomical causes : inviilviui;- 
inunense ]>eriods o\' time, Ouring the era of the*^ 
coal, a tropical climate existctl as far North as Mel- 
ville Island, in the Aivtic Sea. 

The oriiiin o\' motion in such wide spread tields o\' 
ice, is thouglit to be \uulerstood. Agassiz spent 
several seasons in the Alj^s ol)serving the luovements 
there. He lias demonstrated that the exj>ausion 
^^ Inch arises from freezing at the center of the mass, 
finds relief only to^vards the edges, and consequently, 
on tlie side ^vllicll is thawing, there must l>e motion. 
This is very small but irresistaWe, and continuing 
for thousands oi' }ears in one direction, produces 
monstrous results. 

If an ice tielil envelopeil the northern hemis])here, 
its thawing edge Avould he on the side of the equator. 
Consequently, the movement would be southerly, 



CAUSE OK (JI.ACIKK MOTION. 27 

and AvouKl })v greatest iiloiiii;' tlu^ trout, wlicrc. disso- 
liitioii was taking place. I'ut the lines of e(|iial 
temperature, are not coincident Avitli parallels of 
latitude. 

Across this' continent and througli Europe, they 
are oldicpie, l)earing to the Nortli as we ])roceed 
westward. 

'^riiis Avas prol)al)ly the case, at and before the age 
of ice. Thus tlie southerly edge of the continental 
ice held, would not bear East and West, but north- 
westerly and south-easterly, modified l)y the eleva- 
tion of the country. Tn that case, tlie motion would 
he at v'liAit anii-les to the Isothermal lines, or from 
north-east to south-west. Tliere is an exception to 
this, in the bearing of the stria across the Avesterly 
})art of Lake Erie, but here the Southern limit of 
the boulders of northern rocks, forms a curve, and 
is nearly ])arallel with the southerly sliore of the 
lake. 

Such is supposed to be the manner in which the 
beds of clay, sand and gravel were formed, on which 
the city of Cleveland rests. 



PPtE-IIISTOPiIC INHABITANTS. 



Tlirougliout the soutliem lialf of Ohio, thei'e are 
remains of earth woi'ks constructed l)y a people of 
whom we have neitlier liistory or tradition. All we 
know of them, is what may be deduced from the 
character of these ruins. Some of them are in 
groups occupying several hundred aci'es. They con- 
sist of mounds, lines of embankments, either single, 
double or treble ; sometimes with ditches, Ijut more 
often without. Wlien without ditches, they reseml )le 
a turnpike, but such was not their original design. 
They are both straight and curved, generally forming 
an enclosed figure, approaching to mathematical 
regularity; such as a rectangle, octagon, circle or 
ellipse. A partial enclosure in the form of a horse 
shoe, or a segment of some regular figure is common. 
Although mounds and banks of earth, are as nearly 
imperishable as any structure raised by man, they 
are more or less obliterated by rains, frosts and other 
atmospheric agencies. 



80 Ancient iiARTii work^. 

Some of the parallels require close examination to 
detect, and especially to follow them ; through culti- 
vated fields, herbage, and the undergrowth of western 
forests. 

Ditches and pits are sooner obliterated than works 
in relief On these ruins, the timber is of the same 
size and character, as it is around them. Trees 400 
years old have been cut down, whose roots Avere 
fixed upon the top of embankments, where the 
remains of previous generations of trees, were also 
visible. 

There is evidence to show that the race of red 
men, whom Columbus, De Soto and John Smith, 
encountered on this Continent, had then l:)een here 
fifteen or twenty centuries. The Aborigines had 
no knowledge, and no received traditions of their 
predecessors ; which they must have had, if the I'ace 
of the mounds were tlieir ancestors. Everything 
which remains of the mound builders, indicates a 
people of higher cultivation than that of the Indians. 
The more ancient race were industrious, cultivating 
the soil; not wandering hunters. They erected 
mounds of earth, which are in some instances from 
sixty to seventy feet high, witli a circumference at 
the base of seven hundred and eight hundred feet. 
These are still quite imposing piles, rising nearly to 
the tops of ancient trees, among which they stand. 

A single fortification on the bluffs of the Little 
Miami, called "Fort Ancient," in Warren county, 



MOUNDS AND FORTlFlCATlOlSr?. 31 

Oliio, lias a parapet wliicli in some places is eigliteeii 
feet liigli, and fifty feet thick at tlie base. Tlie 
entire work, is computed to contain six hundred 
thousand cubic yards of embankment, and would 
allow of twenty thousand men for its defence. 
Near Newark there is a circle, one-fourth of a mile 
in diameter, where the bank is at the highest point, 
twenty-six feet above the bottom of the ditch. This 
people has left numerous ruins, not only over the 
southern half of this State, but throughout the low 
lands of Kentucky, Western Tennessee, Southern 
Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas and 
Mexico. The large cities, if we may judge by their 
position, were selected on the same principle by 
which our fathers selected theirs. Extensive ruins 
were once visible, on or near the sites of Cincin- 
nati, Marietta, Portsmouth, Chillicothe, Circleville, 
Dayton and Newark. 

They were contiguous to large tracts of good land 
upon valuable water courses. The same people 
worked the copper mines of Lake Superior. Many 
of their mounds, are monuments raised to the dead, 
where valual)le relics were placed ; consisting of beads 
and shells and plates of native copper and silver. 

Their tools are of copper, which appears to be the 
only metal they had for implements. They forged 
of it spears, arrow heads, axes, chisels, spades and 
gouges in its native state, never having been melted 
or refined. Their tools are found, not only with the 



32 ANCIENT COPPfiR MtNEy. 

ashes of their dead, hut on the surface, iu the vicin- 
ity of their works. Very good cutting tools were 
made of stone, of which great numbers have been 
found. The race of red men had also stone axes, 
knives, spear and arrow heads, but did not possess 
implements made of copper, with the exception of 
some very rude knives, found among the tribes 
inhabiting Lake Sujierior. Here the Chippewas 
have sometimes fashioned an awkward knife, or 
an instrument for dressino; skins, from nuo;o;ets of 
native cop]3er which they found in the gravel. 
The style and finish of their rough knives, enables 
one at once to separate them, from the more perfect 
work of the mound builders. This difference of 
mechanical perfection, aptly distinguishes the civil- 
ization of the two races. 

The North American Indian relied principally 
upon ilint, which the race of the mounds used very 
sparingly. 

As implements of wood soon perish, we have 
little trace of them, although they must have l^een 
numerous. Some of the wooden shovels and l:»owls, 
which they used in the mines of Lake Superior, have 
been preserved beneath the water and rubbish of 
old mines. A part of the decayed handle of a cop- 
per S2:)ear, Was found in the same situation. In the 
north eastern part of Ohio, in the county of Geauga, 
ft war club of Nicaragua wood, was discovered early 
in the settlement of that region. This might have 



Implements and weapons. '^S 

Ijelonged to either <^f tlie races, wliieli ])receded white 
men on this soil. Wooden ornaments and imple- 
ments, not l)eing so precious, \vere not l^uried with 
the dead. If they had l)een, there are cases where 
sometliing would remain of them. Threads of 
hempen cloth, and timber forming a sort of coffin 
or vault, have, in some cases, resisted decomposition. 
So has their ornaments of shell, bone and stone; 
and their pipes, grotesquely carved with images of 
animals. All these relics, show a condition ad- 
vanced l^eyond the people, called by us the Abori- 
gines, who were the second, perhaps the third, race 
Avhich preceded us. 

Alonar the south shores of Lake Erie and Lake 
Ontario, are numerous ancient works ; l:)ut of a char- 
acter different from those on the waters of the Ohio. 
There were two of them within the limits of the 
city of Cleveland. A low mound was visible within 
the last twenty years, on the lot at the south east 
corner of Erie and Euclid streets. But the mounds, 
embankments and ditches, throughout the lake coun- 
try are insignificant in size, in comparison with those 
in the southern part of the State. 

Most of those in New York and the northern part 
of Ohio, are fortifications; while a large part of 
those farther south were not designed for the pur- 
poses of war. Many of the latter had reference 
to religious ceremonies and sacrifices, probably of 
human beings. 



34 Fortifications on lake FriF. 

There is a wide belt of country through central 
Ohio which is nearly destitute of ancient works, as 
though there was a neutral tract, not occupied l)y 
the ancient races. Those on the waters running 
northerly into the lake, are generally in strong 
natural positions. They may still be seen on the 
Maumee river, above Toledo, and on the Sandusky, 
Huron and Black rivers. A group of these enclo- 
sures existed at the forks of Huron river, Avhere the 
road crosses, about a mile and a half west of Nor- 
wallv. As a sample of ancient forts in the lake 
country, I insert plans of some of those which are 
not y(^t destroyed. 

ANCIENT FORT, NEWBUKG. 

This consists of a double line of lu'east works 
with ditches across the narrow part <^f a peninsula, 
l)etvveen two gullies, situated about three miles 
south-easterly from the city, on the right of the road 
to Ne^vl)urg, on land heretofore owned l)y the late 
Dr. H. A. AoKLEY. The position thus ])rotected 
against an assault, is a very strong one, where the 
attacking party should not have projectiles of long 
range. 

On three sides of this promontory, the land Is 
abru])t and slippery. It is very difficult of ascent, 
even without artificial ol)structions. Across tlie 
ravine, on nil sides, tlie land is upon a level with the 



OLD FOllTS, (UTYATIOGA tiOUNTY. 



.^5 



enclosed space. The depth of tlie gnlly is from fifty 
to seventy feet. About eighty rods to the east, upon 
tlie level plain, is a mound ten feet high and sixty 
feet in diameter. At the west end of the inner wall 
is a place for a gateway or passage, to the interior. 

Ancient Fort, Newburg. 




'74 






7 






't •) V 



.^^^ 2 



Tlie height of tlie embankment across the neck is 
two feet, and the enclosed area contains al)out live 
acres. Perpetual springs of water issue from the 
sides of the ravine, at the surface of the blue clay, 
as they do at Cleveland. 

About six miles from the lake, on the eastern 
l)hitls of the Cuyahoga river, is a similar work that 



•M) ANCIENT VORT, STTMMfT OOTTNTt. 

lins but one line of emhanknient, with a ditcli. The 
hhiffs are higher, l)iit not quite as inaccessil)le as on 
the AcKLEY farm. About the middle is an unexca- 
vated space across the ditch, but the l)reast work 
has no gap for an entrance. 

Two miles farther up the river, on the same side, 
is a third work, in the same style, similarly located, 
but enclosing about twice as much space. The 
general figure of the enclosure is very much like the 
one on Ackley's premises. Two small branches head 
near each other at the upper end of two ravines, 
from one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet deep. 
Across the neck are two parallels, which have l)een 
nearly obliterated by cultivation. The inner parallel 
does not appear to have been as high as the outer 
one, and between them was a broad, but not a veiy 
deep ditch. A conspicuous ditch was made on the 
outer side of the outer wall, from which, no doubt, 
the earth was taken for the eml)ankment. There 
are no gateways in either of the walls. 

A much stronger and more elaborate fortified 
position, exists in Northfield, Summit County, on the 
river bluffs, two miles west of the center. 

A road leading west from the center to the river, 
passes along a very narrow ridge, or " hogs back," 
between two gullies, only wide enough for a high- 
way. Before reaching the river l)luft*s, this neck of 
land expands right and left, where there is a level 
space of about two acres, elevated near two hundred 



38 OTIIEll ANCIENT FOKT1FICATION8. 

feet alcove tlie canal aiul river. Wliere this area 
begins to widen ont on tlie land side, there are two 
lines of Imnks, with exterior ditches, which are forty 
feet apart, and extend across the neck, ^vitllont 
entrances or gateways. From the to]) of the l)reast 
work to tlie l)ottom of the ditch, is now from four 
to five feet. Mr. Milton Aiitiiitii, tlie owner of the 
land stated, that before the land was cultivated, a 
man standing on the ditch could not look over the 
wall. On all sides, the fiat land is l)ouiided by 
gullies, eighty to one hundred feet dee]), except 
Avliere it is joined to the ridge. 

There is ]^ermanent Avater in the ravines. The 
earth of the blufts is so stee]) that it is sid)ject to 
slides. It is remarkable that there is, within this 
area, another set of lines on the side towards the 
I'iver, reducing the fortified area to about onedialf 
the space, whose edges are at the l)lufts. Two 
])rojecting ])oints ai'e cut ofi' l)y these lines, and left 
outside the works. In this w\ay, much of the 
natural strength of the ])osition is lost. At these 
places, there are pits, which the early settlers of 
Northfield say were filled with Avatei", and wei'e 
stoned around like wells. There are also two low 
mounds, ?m, tn, on the east side. Where the bluft' 
is not as steej) as it is elsewhere, there is a ]^ara])et 
thrown U]) at the crest. A part of the earth on the 
north and ^vest side, Avas taken from the inside, 
Avhich indicates a state of siege, or at least some 



FOllT ON WE8T SIDE OF IIIVER. 39 

pressing haste Avlieii tliis part of tlie line was 
fiiiislied. Perhaps their enemies had gained a foot- 
hokl in tlie level space ontside the lines. 

On the west side of the river is another ancient 
fortification, o})posite this, and it is stated there is 
in the townshij) of Independence, on the Idnfts, 
north of Tinker's creek, near its month, another 
Avork of the same character. There are no doid)t 
otliers Avhich are known to the inhabitants not yet 
surveyed or described. 



40 



FORTIFICATION NEAR WEYMOUTH. 




Enlarged profile on the line a, b. 



A short distance east of the village of Weymouth, 
in a bend of the Rocky River, is a foi-tified point 
of land, with three lines of banks and ditches. 
From the outer to the middle one is forty-two feet, 
and thence to the inner parallel, thirty-eight feet. 
In 1850, the outer and the inner lines were in the 
best condition. From the top of the outer wall to 
the bottom of the ditch, is five feet ; of the middle 



ANCIENT WORK AT (JllANCiEK. 41 

one four feet, and tlie inside parallel six feet. The 
excavations for the ditches reached to the slate. 
Tliis ground was selected by the first white settlers, 
for a biu-ying ground, but was abandoned because 
the soil is not deep enough for graves. Around the 
bend in the river is a deep channel, with vertical 
rocky walls, thirty to fifty feet higli. It is therefore, 
a very defensible position. 

The lengtli of this peninsula is three hundred feet, 
from the inner parapet to the extreme front, and 
tlie distance across the base, one hundred feet. 
There are no openings or gateways through the 
})arallels, and no breaks in the ditches. The engi- 
neer who planned the works, must have provided 
for passing over the embankment, into the enclosed 
space, l)y wooden steps, that have perished. Near 
the village of Weymouth are five small mounds, in^ 
and within the fortress, one. 

One-half mile east of the center of Granger, in the 
same county, is a low circular enclosure, about three 
hundred feet in diameter. It has a slight exterior 
ditch. There is an opening for entrance on the 
north-west side, near where the east and west road 
crosses the work. Two small streams of living 
Avater pass along the sides of it. The situation is 
low and flat, with a slight rise on the west, which 
overlooks the interior of the enclosure. It possesses 
no natural strength of position, and was doubtless 
designed for other purposes than defence. 
4 



42 ANCIENT FORTS. 

FORT NEAR PAINESVILLE. 

On tlie west bank of Grand river, about three 
miles east of Painesville, is a narrow peninsula of 
soap stone and flags, wliich has Ijeen fortified l)y the 
ancients. A tall growth of hemlock furnishes a 
refreshing shade, to which the citizens resort for 
May-day pic-nics, and Fourth of July celebrations. 
A small creek runs outside the point, which is about 
200 feet wide by 600 in length, entering the river 
at the apex. The elevation is from 40 to CO feet 
above water level. At the extremity of the point 
is a lower bench, across which is a low bank and 
ditch. 

About 400 feet farther back from this are two 
parallels across the peninsula, which are 80 feet apart. 
In most places it is nine feet from the bottom of 
the ditches, to the summit of the walls. All the 
ditches are on the outside and are well preserved. 
There are very few places where a party could climb 
up the soap stone cliffs, without the aid of trees or 
ropes. The course of this projecting point is east 
and west, joining the mainland on the west. In this 
direction there is higher land within 300 feet of the 
outer parallel. 



ANCIENT FOKTS. 43 

FORTIFIED HILL NEAR CONNEAUT. 

On the soiitli side of the creek above the village 
of Conneaiit, in Ashtabula county, is a detached 
mound of shale, al^out seventy feet high, which 
is crowned with an ancient fortress, or strong-hold, 
rei^resented in the plan here inserted. 




On the north side there is a low bank of earth 
following the crest of the hill. There is here no 
l)erme, or level space, outside of the embankment. 



44 FORTIFIED HILL, CONNEAUT. 

On the south side, where the bluff is no^i as steep 
and difficult of ascent as on the noi-th, there is a 
ditch between the parapet and the crest, as repre- 
sented in the profile, a, h. Outside of the ditch is a 
low l^anlv on the edge of the natural slope. Thus 
the side having the least natural strength, was made 
stronger by art. It would be almost impossible, for 
men to ascend the steep escarpment of soap stone on 
the noi'th. A narrow ridge of gentle ascent, allows 
of an easy grade on the south-eastern side, where 
there was in 1840, the remains of an ancient road. 

This leads to the gateway at c, where there must 
havu been some obstructions of Avood like a "porte 
cullis," which the inmates could open and close at 
their pleasure. Why there should have been an 
opening in the enclosing Avail, at the end next the 
river is not apparent. Within the enclosure, embra- 
cing about five acres, the soil is black and rich, while 
it is clayey and lean Avithout. This is a common 
feature of the old earth-works on Lake Erie. It 
indicates a lengthy occupation of the place, by human 
beings. The ground occupied by Indian Adllages in 
the north, is ahvays more fertile than the same soil 
outside of their toAAais. 

In the valley of the creek, there is much good land 
Avliich the ancients no doubt cultivated. These 
strong natural positions, resend)le the fortified vil- 
lages of the Mofpies, on the Avaters of the Colorado; 



iiESEMBLANCE TO INDIAN FOrvTS. 4o 

wliicli were visited and described hy Prof. J. S. 
Newbeery in 1854. 

If tlie North American Indians, had been found 
intrenclied in earth-works, when the whites first 
knew them ; or possessed traditions concerning them, 
we should attribute the small forts which are upon 
the waters of Lake Erie, to them. But I have not 
seen among descriptions of the early French writers, 
any thing of the kind more permanent than pickets 
and stockades. 



* 



EVIDENCES OF THE PRESENCE OF WHITE 
MEN NOT KNOWN IN HISTORY. 



In 1840, I was requested to examine the stnmp of 
an oak tree, wliicli was then recently cut ; and which 
stood in the north-west part of Canfield, Mahoning 
County, about fifty miles south-east of Cleveland. 
The diameter was two feet ten inches when it was 
felled, and with the exception of a slight rot at the 
heart, was quite sound. About seven inches from 
the center were the marks of an ax, perfectly distinct ; 
over which one hundred and sixty layers of annual 
growth had accumulated. The tree had been dead 
several years when it was cut down, which was in 
1888. 

When it was about fourteen inches in diameter, 
an expert chopper, with an ax in perfect order, had 
cut into the tree nearly to its heart. As it was not 
otherwise injured the tree continued to grow ; the 
wound was healed, and no external signs of it 
remained. When it was felled, the ancient cut was 



48 AX IVrATlKS IN "WILLOTTGnBY. 

exposed. I procured a portion of tlie tree extending 
from tlie outside to tlie center, on wliicli tlie ancient 
and modern marks of tlie ax are equally plain ; tlie 
tools being of about tlie same breadtli and in equally 
good order. 

Soon after this I received from Jason Hubbell, 
Esq., of Newburg, in this county, a letter descril)ing 
some ax marks which he had observed, in a large 
poplar tree situated in that township. In this case 
the tree was larger, but Mr. Hubbell considered the 
age of the cutting, to be from one hundred and fifty 
to one hundred and sixty years. 

Mr. Stephen Lapiiam, formerly of Willoughl:*}', 
Lake county, now of Janesville, Wisconsin, presented 
to Prof J. L. Cassells a portion of a hickory tree, 
the stump of which still remains, a few feet fi-om the 
railway, a mile and a half west of Willoughby. 

In a letter to me, Mr. Lapiiam says, " it was cut in 
May or June, 1848 or 1849, on the farm I then 
occupied. I sent a hired man to cut some wood, and 
directed him to fell this tree, which was about two 
feet in diameter. I saw the tree fall, and measured 
the length of the wood he was to cut. As the man 
cut in near the heart, I noticed ancient ax marks. It 
had been cut into when a sapling about four inches 
in diameter. There was the old dry bark on the 
tree, above and below the old cut. There was eleven 
inches of growth outside of the cut, and about forty- 
six rings or layers to the inch. The tree was green 



AX MAlJKrt TiSr BEllLIK. 49 

and sound when it was cut. I preserved the piece 
near the heart, with the ohl marks on it." 

I examined this stump in 1859, and now have the 
piece which Mr. Lapham preserved. It was difficult 
to count the layers of annual growth, hut there were 
more than four hundred. Mr. Lapiiam was of the 
opinion, tliat the first choj^tj^ting was done l)efore 
Columbus landed on this continent. If so it cannot 
have been the work of white men. The style of the 
cut is that of a perfectly sharp ax, in all respects like 
the work of a good chopper of our times. 

Although the rule is, that one layer of growth 
accumulates each year, there are exceptions, though 
they are very rare. Four hundred years before 1848 
would cany us back to 1448, forty-four years before 
the island of St. Salvador was discovered. 

There are trees which form two terminal buds in 
a year, and in that case two layers of growth are 
formed. If it was so in this case, the time elapsed 
would be two hundred years, instead of four hundred, 
and the date would be about 1648. 

Another instance of the work of old chojipers, is 
furnished in the following lettei' from H. L. Hill, 
Esq., of Berlin, Erie Co., O. : 

Berlin Hights, Jan. 23, 1859, 
In the summer of 1831, I felled one of the giant 
oaks of the forest, which was about three feet in 
diameter. It was (;ut for the purpose of making 



to Letter of mr. itiLt. 

wagon liiibs. One cut or length, was sawed ofF, tlie 
size of the hnl)s marked out, leaving six to ten inches 
around the heart. As we split the bolts, three cuts 
or strokes, of a sharp narrow bitted ax were plainly 
visible, the chips standing outward from the tree as 
distinct as when they were first made. 

My brother and myself counted two Jium/red and 
nineteen, rings of annual growth outside of the cuts. 
It was with the greatest difficulty, we were able to 
count the fine growths near the butt of the tree, and 
may have made a mistake of a few years. The tree 
stood on lot seven, Eange seven, Berlin township, on 
a dry piece of ground, nearly surrounded by wet 
land ; for about twenty rods forming good ground for 
a camp. 

In the spring of 1857, I pulled out the stump of 
this tree, and in plowing through the gi'ound where 
it stood ; turned up the ax you saw in the Museum. 
I think it must have been between the roots of the 
tree, or we should have seen it before. 

Yours respectfully, 

H. L. HILL. 

If the cuts mentioned l)y Mr. Hill, were made by 
the Indians with their rude squaw axes, they possess 
no special meaning. Those upon the Canfield and 
the Willoughljy trees were by a difterent tool, a well 
formed ax, with a clear sharp cutting edge. Very 
soon after the French and the English encoiuitered 
the Indians 1008-20, they Were furnished vrii\\ 



'Mli .Tl^lsuMa ANf) LA AALLi^. .^1 

!?quaw axes. These axes were narrow Ijitted, made 
of iron or inferior steel, and were never kept in order 
by the Indians. 

Where they have used them upon modern trees, 
the style of the stroke at once shows it to be this 
kind of a tool. It is never sharp enough to cut a 
surface smooth, like a modern choppers ax. The 
Jesuits were among the Iroquois of Western New 
York as early as 1656, but we have no historical 
traces of them as far west as Ohio. 

The Canfield tree must l^e considered a ffood 
record as far back as 1660. 

Many historians infer that La Salle passed 
through Northern Ohio, from the Illinois river in the 
winter of 1682-83. 

That he made a journey by land from Crevecoeur to 
Quebec in that winter cannot be doubted, but there 
is no proof on which side of Lake Erie he traveled. 
It is far more probable that he avoided the hostile 
Iroquois, and bearing northward crossed the Detroit 
river, where the Indians were friendly to the French. 
A hasty traveller like him, could have left few marks 
of his ax. There must have been hundreds of trees 
on the Western Reserve, upon which axes had been 
used, in order to furnish us, so many exam])les after 
a lapse of two centuries. 



THE UACK OF U\) MEiN. 



CiiAMPLAiN is the earliest autliority, in relation to 
the savages upon the great lakes. He spent twenty- 
five years among them, beginning with the year 
1()03, fonr years before the settlement of Jamestown, 
Virginia, and sixteen before the Pilgrim fatliers set 
foot on Plymonth rock. He identified himself with 
them as hunter, trader, and warrior. 

In 1(309 he accompanied a war party of Algonqiiins 
through Lake Champlain, to attack the Iroquois, 
whom they fought between Lake George and Crown 
Point. On both shores of the Ottawa river were the 
" Algommequins," Ottawas, or Attawawas. The 
Hurons, or Wyandots, were then seated between 
Lakes Huron and Ontario. Between Huron and 
Erie were the " Petuns," or Tobacco nation. 

On the south of Lake Ontario were the five con- 
federate nations, whom the French called Hiricois, 
or Iroquois. By means of their alliance, they were 
too powerful, for any other nation or confederation. 



54: LOCATION OF INDIAN TRIBES. 

They were also more intelligent, built l^etter cabins 
and strong holds ; and cultivated more maize. This 
superiority, enabled them to send large hunting 
parties, and war-like expeditions, far beyond their 
admitted bounds. Sometimes their dreaded warriors 
crossed Lake Ontario and attacked the Algonquins, 
pursuing them even to Lake Superior. 

Then the savage crowd surged southward, into 
Pennsylvania ; overcoming the Lenni-Lenape, or 
Delawares; and even to Virginia and South Caro- 
lina. Where is now the State of Ohio, Ciiamplain 
places the "Neutral nation," whose fate is involved 
in much obscurity. Farther West he fixes the 
nation " which has plenty of buffaloes," and North 
of them, around the " Great Lake," or Lake Mich- 
igan, are the " Astistaquenonons," or the "Nation 
of the Fire," afterwards known as Mascoutens. His 
ideas about Lake Superior were very imperfect, 
such as Indians usually give of their country. (See 
a portion of his map, inserted beyond.) During 
his explorations, and for nearly half a century after- 
wards, neither the French or the Algonquins could 
venture on Lake Erie. The Iroquois were not 
cleared away, from the East end of that Lake, till 
after a number of French expeditions against them, 
assisted by their Indian allies, north of the lakes. 

It was not until 1635, the French reached Lake 
Superior, and did not become well acquainted with 
it till 1(359-60. It was still later when they 



WAE8 OF THE IROQUOIS. 00 

readied Lake Erie, in 1679. Champlain, when liis 
map was published in 1632, supposed Lake Mich- 
igan to 1)6 the greatest of the lakes, and that there 
was a tall between it and his "Mer Douce," or 
Lake Huron. Lake Superior is there represented 
as a small body of water, including an island on 
which there was copper. The "Puant or Skunk 
Indians," afterwards known as Winnebagoes, he 
supposed were situated North of this lake. Indian 
tribes appear in history under so many names, and 
changes of residence, that it requires special research 
to follow them from Ciiamplain's time to our own. 
When the French inidertook to secure the friend- 
ship of the Iroquois, and detach them from the 
the English, l)y means of their missionaries, in 1654, 
there were two nations inhabiting the eastern end 
of Lake Erie. 

This scheme succeeded only for a short time. In 
1656 the Onondagas, or " Onnontaques," nuirdered 
most of the Huron christians, whom the Jesuits 
brought with them, and so threatened the lives of 
the missionaries and traders, that fifty-three of them 
withdrew, under cover of night, and after incredible 
toils, reached Montreal, April 3d, 1657. 

Other missionaries were tortured, and burned as 
martyrs to the cause of Indian civilization. While 
the Jesuits were among the Iroquois, they discom- 
fitted the nation of the Chat, Cat, or Raccoon, which 
occupied the shore of Lake Erie on the south-east. 



5G DIOFPJAT OF Til 10 EUIES. 

This iKiti(~>ii, tluit of the Erries, Eries, Erigiis, or 
Errieoiioiis, of tlie east end of tlie lake, and another 
on the. lieads of the Alleghany, known as the 
Andantes, soon disappeared from history. The 
irresisti])le Irocpiois warriors, principally Senecas, 
crossed the straits between Erie and Ontario, and 
blotted out or dispersed the Neutral nation. In 
105 5 they assailed the Eries, storming their rude 
forts, getting over their pickets by means of canoes, 
planted as scaling ladders, and enslaved or destroy- 
ed the nation. 

They did not so easily blot out the Andantes, 
who resisted imtil the year 1072, Init were finally, 
like the Neutrals, not only exhausted, but obliter- 
ated. (Pakkman, 22-23.) 

It was thus the various families of the Five 
Nations, became possessed of the north-eastern part 
of Ohio, as far west as the Cuyahoga river, claiming 
still farther to the west. When the Tuscarawas, 
or Tuscaroras, were added to the confederacy, they 
were seated upon the waters of the Beaver and 
the Muskingum. 

The Hurons, having l)een driven to the west end 
of the lake, retained possession west of the Cuya- 
hoga, but neither party felt safe in settling to the 
east of it, in eastern and north-eastern Ohio, Av^hich 
thus became a border country; Avhere the stragglers 
from both nations, had tlie courage to hunt for 
o-ame and for each other. Althouo-h La Salle had 



THE FKENCII ON LAKE ERIE. 57 

ventured to establish a post at Niagara, in 1078, 
and in the winter of 1678-9, had built the "Grif- 
fin," a small vessel, above the Falls of Niagara; and 
had successfully sailed in her through Lake Erie 
to Lake Michigan, we do not know of any French 
on the south shore of this lake at that time. 
French traders and missionaries, may have coasted 
along the north shore, among their friends, the 
Hurons; but they have left no record of such 
journeys. 

In moving to and fi'om the Mississippi, they had 
been compelled, for fear of the Iroquois, to make a 
wide circuit, passing up the Ottawa river, making 
a portage to Lake Nepissing, descending thence to 
Lake Huron, and continuing the voyage by way of 
Mackinaw, and St. Joseph, reached tjie waters of 
the Illinois river. 

It was not until 1688, they established a trading 
post at the outlet of Lake Huron, on the ground 
where Fort Gratiot was afterwards built. La Salle 
before this had performed a journey that compares 
in endurance, fortitude and courage, with the fabled 
labors of Hercides. During the months of Feb- 
ruary and March, 1680, he traveled on foot, from 
his Fort on the Illinois river, avoiding the Iroquois 
south of the Lakes, to Quebec; a distance of about 
twelve hundred miles. Perhaps some of the Jesuit 
Missionaries, had gone as far west as the Cuyahoga 

before this time. But I know of no evidence to 
5 



58 NAKKATIVH OF KLACKSNAKE. 

lliis ctt'ect. On tlie noHli shore, tlie Frencli did not 
make a i)erniaiu*nt lodgment nntil tlie year 1701 ; 
at wliieli time tliev erected Fort Ponteliartrain, at 
Detroit. They were still unwilling to trust them- 
selves among the Iroquois, of the south shore. 
Their progress in the affections of those tribes was 
very slo^v. It was about forty years after they 
located at Detroit, before they Iniilt a fort at Erie, 
Pa,, which they called Pres(.j[ue Isle. They reached 
Sandusky, and built a fort there in 1754, and of 
course had other establishments on this lake, 
between Erie and Sandusky. By examining that 
part of Leavis Evans' Map, w^hich is inserted in the 
notice of the early maps of this region; it will be 
seen that in 1755, they had a trading station on the 
west side of the Cuyahoga, opposite the mouth of 
Tinker's Creek. 

But between the years 1700 and 17G0, our certain 
knowledge of the Indian tribes in Ohio, is very 
meao-re. As they were our immediate predecessors 
on this soil, and have already become nearly extinct, 
their history possesses a deep interest. I have not, 
however, space to do more than quote a nai'ration 
made by Blacksnake, a Seneca chief, to some gentle- 
man of Buffalo, N. Y., in July, 1845, giving the 
Indian version of the extirpation of the Eries, the 
nation from ^vliom our lake has received its name, 
by which their memory will be perpetuated so long 
as the waters floAw 



CHALLENGE BY THE EKIKS. 51) 



DESTRUCTION OF THE ERIES. 

"The Eries were the most powerful and warlike 
of all the Indian tribes. They resided at the foot 
of the Great Lake, (Erie,) where now stands the 
city of Buffalo, the Indian name for which was 
' Tii-sliu-way.^ 

" When the Eries heard of the confederation which 
was formed between the Mohawks, who resided 
in the valley of that name, the Oneidas, the Onon- 
dagas, the Cayugas, and the Senecas, who resided, 
for the most part, upon the shores and the outlets 
of the lakes bearing their names respectively, (called 
by the French the Iroquois nation,) they imagined 
it must be for some mischievous purpose. Although 
confident of their superiority over any one of the 
tribes, inhabiting the countries within the bounds 
of their knowledge, they dreaded the power of such 
combined forces. In order to satisfy themselves in 
regard to the character, disposition, and power, of 
those they considered their natural enemies, the 
Eries resorted to the following means. 

" They sent a friendly message to the Senecas, who 
were their nearest neighbors, inviting them to select 
one hundred of their most active, athletic young 
men, to play a game of ball, against the same num- 
ber to be selected by the Eries, for a wager which 
should be considered worthy the occasion, and the 



(')() I'KKPAK'ATION FOR 'rillO CON'PKS'r. 

cliMiactci- ot' the great luxtioii, in wliosc Lelialf tlie 
offer was made. 

"Tlie message was received and entertained in the 
most respectful manner. A council of tlie "Five 
Nations" Avas called, and the })roposition fully 
discussed, and a messenger in due time despatched 
with the decision of the council, respectfully declin- 
ing the challenge. This emboldened the Eries, 
and the next year the offer was renewed, and after 
heing again considered, again foimally declined. 
This was far from satisfying the proud lords of the 
"Great Lake," and the challenge was renewed the 
third time. The blood of the young Iroquois could 
no longer be restrained. They importuned the old 
men to allow them to accept the challenge. The 
wise councils which had hitherto prevailed, at last 
gave way, and the challenge was accepted. 

" Nothino; could exceed the enthusiasm wath which 
each tribe sent forth its chosen champions for the 
contest. The only difficulty seemed to be, to make 
a selection, where all w^ere so worthy. After much 
delay, one hundred of the ilower of all the tribes 
were finally designated, and the day for their 
departure was fixed. An experienced chief was 
chosen as the leader of the party, whose orders the 
young nnni were strictly enjoined to obey. A 
grand council was called, and in the presence of 
the assembled multitude, the party was charged, 
in the most solemn manner, to observe a pacific 



\ 



I 



THE IROQUOIS CHAMPION?* 6l 

course of conduct towards tlieir coni})ctitors, and 
the nation whose guests they were to })econie, and 
to aUow no provocation, liowever great, to ]:>e 
resented hy any act of aggression on their ])art, l)ut 
in all respects to actpiit themselves worthy the 
representatives of a great and powerful people, 
anxious to cultivate peace and friendship with their 
neighbors. 

"Under these solemn injunctions, the party took 
up its line of march for Tu-shu-way. When the 
chosen band had arrived in the vicinity of the point 
of their destination, a messenger was sent forward 
to notify the Eries of their arrival, and the next 
day was set apart for their grand entree. 

"The elegant and athletic forms, the tasteful, yet 
not cumbrous dress, the dignified, noble bearing of 
their chief, and more than all, the modest demeanor 
bf the young warriors of the Iroquois party, won 
the admiration of all beholders. They brought no 
arms. Each one bore a ])at, used to throw or strike 
a ball, tastefully ornamented, being a hickory stick 
about five feet long, bent over at the end, and a 
thong netting wove into the bow. After a day of 
repose and refreshment, all things were arranged for 
the contest. The chief of the Iroquois brought for- 
ward and deposited upon the ground, a large pile of 
elegantly wrought belts of wanq)um, costly jewels, 
silver bands, beautifully ornamented moccasins, and 
other articles of great value in the eyes of the sons 



^2 THE toNTi^sl^. 

of the forest, as the stake, or wager on the part of 
his people. These were carefLilly matched by the 
Eries with articles of equal value — article by article, 
tied together and again deposited on the pile. 

"The game T)egan, and although contested with 
desperation and great skill by the Eries, was won 
by the Iroquois, and they bore oif the prize in 
triumph — thus ended the first day. 

" The Iroquois having now accomplished the 
object of their visit, proposed to take their leave, 
but the chief of the Eries, addressing himself to 
their leader, said their young men, though fairly 
beaten in the game of ball, would not be satisfied 
unless they could have a foot race, and proposed to 
match ten of their number, against an equal number 
of the Irocj[uois party, which was assented to, and 
the Iroquois were again victorious. The "Kauk- 
was," who resided on the Eighteen Mile Creek, 
being present as friends and allies of the Eries, now 
invited the Iroquois party to visit them, before they 
returned home, and thither the whole party repaired. 
The chief of the Eries, as a last trial of the courage 
and prowess of his guests, proposed to select ten 
men, to be matched by an equal number of the 
Iroquois party, to wrestle, and that the victor should 
despatch his adversary on the spot, by braining him 
with a tomahawk, and l)earing ofi^ his scalp as a 
troi)hy. 



I 



i'llE lEOQUOIS ALWAYS VICTORIOUS. &6 

" This sanguinary proposition was not at all pleas- 
ing to the Iroquois; they however concluded to accept 
the challenge, w4th a determination, should they be 
victorious, not to execute the l:>loody part of the 
proposition. The champions were accordingly 
chosen — a Seneca was the first to step into the ring, 
and threw his adversary, amid the shouts of the 
multitude. He stepped back, and declined to 
execute his victim who lay passive at his feet. As 
quick as thought, the chief of the Eries seized the 
tomahawk, and at a single blow scattered the brains 
of his vanquished warrior Over the ground. His 
body was dragged away, and another champion of 
the Eries presented himself. He was as quickly 
thrown by his more powerful atagonist of the Iro- 
quois party, and as quickly dispatched by the in- 
furiated chief A third met the same fate. 

"The chief of the Iroquois party, seeing the ter 
rible excitement which agitated the multitude, gave 
a signal to retreat. Every man obeyed the signal, 
and in an instant they were out of sight. 

" In two hours they arrived in Tu-shu-way, gath- 
ered up the trophies of their victories, and were on 
their way home. 

" This visit of the hundred warriors of the Five 
Nations, and its results, only served to increase the 
jealousy of the Eries, and to convince them that 
they had powerful rivals to contend with. It was 
no part of their policy, to cultivate friendship and 



^4 



VENGEANCE OF THE ERIEs. 



strengthen tlieir own ])OAvei' by cultivating peace 
with other tribes. 

"They knew of no mode of securing peace to 
themselves, ])ut by exterminating all who might 
oppose them ; but the combination of several pow- 
erful tribes, any of Avhom might be almost an ecpial 
match for them, and of whose personal prowess 
they had seen such an exhibition, inspired the Eries 
with the most anxious forebodings. To cope with 
them collectively they saw was impossible. Their 
only hope, therefore, was in being able, by a vigor- 
ous and sudden movement, to destroy them in de- 
tail. With this view, a powerful war party was 
immediately organized to attack the Senecas, who 
resided at the foot of Seneca Lake, (the present site 
of Geneva,) and along the banks of the Seneca 
river. It happened that at this period, there resided 
among the Eries a Seneca woman, w^ho in early life 
had been taken prisoner, and had married a hus- 
band of the Erie tribe. He died and left her a 
widow without children, a stranger among strangers. 
Seeing the terrible note of preparation for a bloody 
onslaught upon her kindred and friends, she formed 
the resolution of appraising them of their danger. 
As soon as night set in, taking the course of the 
Niagara river she traveled all night, and early next 
morning reached the shore of Lake Ontario. She 
jumped into a canoe, which she found fastened to 
a tree, and boldly jmshed into the open lake. 



TitE ERIEfl BETRAYED. 65 

" Coasting down the lake, she arrived at the 
mouth of the Oswego river in the night, where a 
hirge settlement of the nation resided. 

" She directed her steps to the house of the liead 
chief, and disclosed the object of her journey. She 
was secreted by the chief, and runners were dis- 
patched to all the tribes, summoning them imme- 
diately to meet in council, which was held at Onon- 
daga Hollow. 

" When all were convened the chief arose, and in 
the most solemn manner rehearsed a vision, in 
which he said a beautiful bird appeared to him, and 
told him that a great war party of the Eries, was 
preparing to make a secret and sudden descent upon 
them, and destroy them; that nothing could save 
them, but an immediate rally of all the warriors of the 
Five Nations, to meet the enemy before they should 
be able to strike the blow. These solemn announce- 
ments were heard in breathless silence. When the 
chief had finished and sat down, there arose one 
immense yell of menacing madness. The earth 
shook, when the mighty mass brandished high in 
the air their war clubs, and stamped the ground like 
furious beasts. 

" No time was to be lost ; a body of five thousand 
Warriors was organized, and a corps of reserve con- 
sisting of one thousand young men, who had never 
been in battle. The l)ravest chiefs from all the 
tribes were put in command, and spies immediate- 



OG IROQltOIS FORCES ADVANCE. 

ly sent out in seai-cli of the enemy; the whole 
body taking- up a line of march, in the direction 
frt)m whence they expected the attack. 

"The advance of the war party was continued 
for several days, j"»assing" through successively tlu' 
settlements of their friends, the Onondagas, the 
Ca\-ugas, and the Senecas ; but they had scarcely 
}>assed the last wigwam, near the foot of Ca-an-du- 
gua (Canandaigua) Lake, when their scouts l)rought 
in intelligence of the advance of the Eries, who had 
already crossed the Ce-nis-se-u (Genesee) river in 
great force. The Eries had not the slightest inti- 
mation of the approach of their enemies. They re- 
lied upon the secresy and celerity of their move- 
ments, to surprise and subdue the Seuecas almost 
without resistance. 

"The two parties met, at a point al>out half M-a\' 
between the foot of Canandaigua Lake and the Gen- 
esee river ; and near the outlet of two small lakes, 
near the foot of one of which (the Honeoye), the 
l^attle was fought. When the two parties came in 
siffht of each other, the outlet of the lake onlv in- 
tervened between them. 

"The entire force of the five confederate tribes, 
was not in view of the Eries. The reserve corps of 
one thousand young men, had not been allowed to 
advance in sight of the enemy. Nothing could re- 
sist the impetuosity of tlie Eries, at the first sight of 
an o])posing force on the other side of the stream. 



A DECISIVE BATTLE. ' 6'? 

They rushed through it, and fell upon them with 
tremendous fury. The undaunted courage and de- 
termined bravery of the Iroquois, could not avail 
against such a terrible onslaught, and they were 
compelled to yield the ground on the bank of the 
stream. The whole force of the combined tribes, 
except the corps of reserve, now became engaged. 
They fought hand to hand and foot to foot. The 
battle raged horribly. No quarter was asked or 
given on either side. 

" As the fight thickened and became more desper- 
ate, the Eries, for the first time, became sensible of 
their true situation. What they had long anticipa- 
ted had become a fearful reality. Their enemies liail 
comhined for their destruction., and they now found 
themselves engaged, suddenly and unexpectedly, in a 
struggle involving not only the glory .^ but perhaps 
the very existence of their nation. 

"They were proud, and had hitherto been vic- 
torious over all their enemies. Their superiority 
was felt and acknowledged by all the tribes. They 
knew how to conquer, but not to yield. All these 
considerations flashed upon the minds of the bold 
Eries, and nerved every arm with almost superhu- 
man power. On the other hand, the united forces 
of the weaker tribes, now made strong by union, 
fired with a spirit of emulation, excited to the high- 
est pitch among the warriors of the different tribes, 
brought for the first time to act in concert, inspired 



6^ DECISIVE VICTORY OF THE IROQUOIS. 

with zeal and confidence, ])y the counsels of the 
wisest chiefs, and led on by the most experienced 
warriors of all the tribes, the Iroquois were in- 
mncihle. 

"Though staggered by the first desperate rusli 
of their opponents, they rallied at once, and stood 
their ground. And now the din of battle rises 
higher, the war-club, the tomahawk, the scalping 
knife, wielded by herculean hands, do tenible deeds 
of death. During the hottest of the battle, which 
was fierce and long, the corps of reserve, consisting 
of one thousand young men, were, by a skillful 
movement, under their experienced chief, placed in 
the rear of the Eries, on the opposite side of the 
stream, in ambush. 

"The Eries had been driven seven times across 
the stream, and had as often regained their ground ; 
l)ut the eighth time, at a given signal from their 
chief, the corps of young warriors in ambush rushed 
upon the almost exhausted Eries, with a tremendous 
yell, and at once decided the fortunes of the day. 
Hundreds, disdaining to fly, were struck down by 
the war-clubs of the vigorous young warriors, whose 
thirst for the blood of the enemy knew no bounds. 
A few of the vanquished Eries escaped, to carry the 
news of the terrible overthrow to their, wives and 
children, and their old men, who remained at home. 
But the victors did not allow them a moment's 
repose, l)ut pursued them in their flight, killing 



KETBEAT t)F THE ElilES. 69 

without cliscrhnlnatioii all wlio fell into tlieir liaiuls. 
The pursuit was continued for many weeks, and it 
was five months before the victorious war party of 
the Five Nations returned to their friends, to join 
in celebrating the victory over their last and most 
powerful enemy, the Eries. 

" Tradition adds, that many years after, a powerful 
war party of the descendants of the Eiies came 
from beyond the Mississippi, ascended the Ohio, 
crossed the country, and attacked the Senecas, who 
had settled in the seat of their fathers at Tu-shu-way. 
A great battle was fought near the present site of 
the Indian Mission House, in which the Eries were 
again defeated, and slo/m to a man. Their bones 
lie bleaching in the sun to the present day, a mon- 
ument at once of the indomitable courage of the 
'terrible Eries,' and of their brave conquerors, the 
Senecas." 

The above spirited relation is taken from the 
Buffalo Oommercial^ of July, 1845, whose editor 
remarks : 

"Its accuracy may be implicitly relied upon, 
every detail having been taken from the lips of 
Blacksnake, and other venerable chiefs of the 
Senecas and Tonawandas, who still cherish the 
traditions of their fathers. Near the Mission 
House, on the Reservation adjoining this city, 
can be seen a small mound, evidently artificial, 



70 SENECA CHIEF, BLACKSNAKE. 

tluit 18 said to contain tlic remains of tlie unfor- 
tunate Ei'ies, slain in tlieir last great battle. The 
Indians hereabouts believe that a small remnant 
of the Eries still exist beyond the Mississippi. The 
small tribe known as the Quapaws in that region, 
are also believed to be remains of the Kauk-was, 
the allies of the Eries." 

Blacksnake was living in 1860, and resided 
upon the Allegheny river, above Warren, in Penn- 
sylvania. He was then more than a century and 
a quarter old. His form was scarcely human; 
shrivelled, bent and helpless; but he was able to 
converse intelligibly, his memory reaching back to 
the days when the French first descended that river 
to the Ohio. His narrative possesses that exquisite 
interest of which history is capable, when it is writ- 
ten fresh from the lips of those who form a part 
of it. 

Even after the English Crown had supplanted 
the French, the Indians were promised a secure 
home on the w^aters of Lake Erie and of the Oliio. 
By a proclamation of 1763, the same year of the 
treaty of Paris, all settlers are forbidden to trespass 
upon the Indian grounds north of the Ohio. It 
was doubtless the honest intention of the British 
authorities, to devote the territory of this and of 
all the north-western States, to Indian occupancy. 
When the boundaries of the United States were 



PLEDGES TO THE INDIANS. 7l 

discussed at tlie close of the Revolution, tlie British 
Commissioners insisted upon the Ohio as the line 
on the Avest. The reasons they urged were the 
guarantees they had given their Indian allies. Dr. 
Fkanklin was inclined to accede to this boundary, 
but the other Commissioners would not hear of it. 
Little did he foresee the progress of events. 



^m 



CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER 

OP 

LEADING EVENTS. 



1535— Jaques Caetier, a Frenchman, ascended tlie 
St, Lawrence as far as Hoclialega, a Wyandot 
village near Montreal. An attempt to found 
a colony on tlie river, live years afterwards, 
entirely failed and its history is lost. 

1539 — The Iroquois Confederacy formed. 

1603 — Monsieur Samuel Ciiajiplaln- landed at Que- 
bec, and in 1608 made a permanent settlement 
there, the same year of the establishment at 
Jamestown, Virginia. 

1615 — Champlain and Le Caron explore Lake 
Huron, by them called "Mer Douce." 

1635 — ^The Jesuit Missionaries reached the Sault St. 
Mary. 

1647 — Monsieur De Longueville reported to have 
been at the rapids of the Fox river, Wisconsin. 

1654 — Onondaga Salt Springs discovered by Father 
Simon Le Moine. 
6 



74 CHRONOLOGY. 

1(359 — Two Freiicli traders winter on Lake Superior. 

1^3(30 — Tlie Abbe Mesnakd establishes missions at 
Kewenaw Bay, (St. Theresa,) and at La Pointe, 
( Chegoimegon. ) 

l{]C)l — Mesnard perished in the woods near Portage 
Lake, on Lake Superior. 

1668 — Dablon and Marquette founded a mission 
at the Sault St. Mary. 

1671 — Marquette establishes a mission at St. Ignace, 
on the main land, w^est of Mackinaw. 

1673 — Marquette reaches the Mississippi, by way 
of the Fox river. 

1679 — La Salle builds the schooner "Griffin" at 
Cayuga creek, near Tonawanda, and sets sail 
August 7th, for Green Bay. 

1681 — La Salle and Tonti are at Mackinaw "Old 
Fort," on the main land, south of the Straits. 

1682 — La Salle discovers the mouth of the Missis- 
sippi river, April 7th. 

1686— A fort built by the French at the outlet of 
Lake Huron, now Fort Gratiot. 

1690 — The French and the Iroquois, after three- 
quarters of a century of war, conclude a peace, 
and the French occupy Lake Frie. 

1701 — Fort Pontchartrain built at Detroit. 

1712 — The Tuscarowas, or Tuscororas, from North 
Carolina, became a part of the Iroquois Con- 
federacy, from that time known as the " Six 
Nations." 



CIIllOlsruLOGY. 



V5 



1726— Tlie "Six Nations," for the tliird time, put 
their lands on the shores of Lake Erie, under 
the protection of the Englisli. This treaty 
embraces a tract sixty miles wide from the 
Cuyahoga to Oswego. 

1744 — The "Six Nations" at Lancaster, Pennsyl- 
vania, deed all their lands within the Colony of 
Virginia, to the King of England. 

1749 — The French take formal possession of the 
country, on the waters of the Ohio. 

1753 — They erect Forts at Presque Isle, (Erie) Pa., 
Le Beuf, (Waterford) and Venango (Franklin.) 

1755 — ^The French propose to the English to retire 
east of the Allegheny mountains, and them- 
selves to remain west of the Ohio. 

1760 — Canada conquered by the English. Their 
posts on this Lake, taken j^ossession of in the 
fall by Major Rogers. 

1763 — First general cons|)iracy of the north-western 
Indians, under Pontiac, Ponteack, or Pondeach. 

1764 — The expeditions of Cols. Bradstreet and 
BoQUET, against the Ohio Indians. 

1765 — The Ohio country made part of Canada by 
act of Parliament. 

1766 — Jojs^ATHAN Carver explores the uj^per Lakes 
and upper Mississippi. 

1768— Treaty of Fort Stanwix, (Rome, N. Y.) in 
which the British covenant with the Indians 
not to pass the Ohio. 



76 CHEONOLOGY. 

1770 — Moravian Missions founded on the Big 
Beaver River, not far below New Castle. 

1776 — British Traders at Cuyahoga. 

1777 — The British and Indians hold a conference at 
Oswego, New York. 

1778 — Fort Laurens built by Congress on the Tusca- 
rora River, near Bolivar, two miles below where 
Frederick Post established a mission in 1761. 

1782 — The British establish a Fort at Sandusky, 
Ohio. 

1784 — England refuses to deliver up the western 
posts. 

1786 — Blankets and other goods obtained at Cuya- 
hoga, from British traders, for our troops at 
Pittsburgh; and flour delivered here for the 
British. 

The Moravians establish a mission at the 
mouth of Tinker's Creek, in Cuyahoga County. 
Soon after, a British vessel is wrecked within 
the present city of Cleveland. 



EARLY MAPS OF THE LAKE COUNTRY. 



Upon the geography of the region of the Lakes, 
there is nothing, based upon personal observation, 
earlier than Champlain's map, a portion of which is 
given on the next page. He spent his life among 
the Indian tribes of the valley of the St. Lawrence, 
either in a friendly or a warlike character. Those 
on the North of the St. Lawrence, (originally St. 
Laurent); were secured to the French interest by his 
personal influence. He always went with them 
across the river southward, to make war upon their 
enemies, the Iroquois, who were friendly to the 
English. In 1G34, Ciiamplain pul^lished his map of 
New France. The French had not, at this time, 
dared to venture upon Lake Erie, neither had they 
the benefit of information from Indians, who lived 
upon its shores. In his expedition of 1615 against 
the Onondagoes, on the waters of the Oswego 
River, and the Senecas at Canandaigua Lake, 
Champlain obtained some knowledge of that 



I 



LAKE HURON. 79 

country. His route is shown on the map l)y dotted 
lines; and the position of the Seneca Fort hy the 
letter a. From the country of the "Antoronons" 
or Senecas, qii the head of the Genessee River ; and 
of the " Carantouannais," on the head waters of the 
Susquehanna, an Indian road or trail, led away to 
the westward, and the streams running north into 
Lake Erie. The Falls of Niagara are noticed only 
as a rapid or sault, like the other rapids of the St. 
Lawrence. From thence, a gi-and strait, with 
Islands, connecting Lake St. Louis, or Ontario with 
Lake Huron, is all the representation given of Lakes 
Erie and St. Clair. Champlain only knew that his 
"Mer Douce" had a connection with Lake Ontario, 
but of the existence of another great lake, Ijetween 
them, he was clearly ignorant. His route to Lake 
Huron was always through the friendly tribes, by 
way of the Ottowa River, and ''Lac de Biserenis" 
or Lake Nepissing. Evidently, he had not explored 
the "Grand Lake" (Michigan) or Lake Superior. 
The "Puants" or Winnebagoes, who occupied the 
north-western parts of Lake Michigan, he su23posed 
were north and east of Superior. The Chippeways, 
Ojibways, or Sauteurs, were at that time, as they 
have been since, the masters of the shores of that 
lake. If Champlain had been upon the waters of 
Lake Michigan, he would not have put the sault, at 
the outlet of that lake, instead of Superior. Neither 
would he have represented the last named lake, as a 



80 WYANDOTS AND PETUNS. 

diminitive body of water, not larger than Lake 
Nej)issing. The fact of the existence of copper, he 
derived from the Indians. 

But grotesque as his niajD appears to us, it 
possesses much interest. It shows where the savage 
nations were h^cated, when they were iirst encoun- 
tered by the whites. The Iroquois hehl the waters 
of Lake Chaniplain, the Hudson River, and the 
LTpper Susquehanna. On the North shore of Lake 
Ontario were the Tlurons, afterwards known as the 
Wyandots. On the North shore of Lake Erie, the 
" Petuns," or Tobacco Indians were located. 

Not long before the Iroquois achieved their first 
great victory over the Eries, which occurred about 
1655, they expelled the Neutral Nation from the 
shores of the Niagara river. The Iroquois called 
tlie Neutrals, the Nation of the " Cat," meaning the 
wild cat, an animal of the family of the lynx. By 
the French, the Eries were also known as Cats, but 
this name they applied to the raccoon. In this 
way, the two Nations are confounded. Their fate 
was alike, l^ut they were not even allies. The 
Eries, under the name of Erigas, remained a long 
time in Ohio, having been driven from the Genessee 
river, past Buffalo, to the heads of the Scioto. 
They were originally of the Iroquois stock, speaking 
a dialect of the same language. As usual, when 
people of the same lineage become enemies, tlieir 



LOCATION OF THE ERIES. 81 

hatred is more fierce and lasting, than where there 
is no community of blood. 

At the eastern end of Lake Michigan, a great river 
comes in from the South, whose head waters are as 
low in latitude as the capes of Virginia. A large 
river discharges into Lake Huron, near the western 
portion, opposite an island. On this is located the 
" Gens de Feu," or nation of the Fire, since called 
the Mascoutens. Another large river from the 
south, discharo-es into what answers to Lake Erie. 
On the sources of the three last named streams 
was the nation "which has plenty of Buffaloes." 
Numerous Indian villages, fields, and graves, are 
represented on these rivers, and throughout all the 
country. There are also abundant mountains, in 
all parts of the western and north-western country, 
as well as in New England and Virginia. 

LEWIS EVANs' MAP 1755. 

Neither had the English much reliable knowl- 
edge of Lake Erie, until after the year 1700. As 
soon as peace was secured by the French, with the 
Iroquois, they hastened to possess the country west 
of the Allegheny mountains. The English were 
equally hasty in opposing them. Lewis Evans, 
of Philadelphia, assisted hj Governor Powwall, of 
New Jersey, between 1740 and 1750, gathered 
materials for the map of 1755. Captain Thomas 
HuTCHiNS, who was the Engineer to Colonel 



82 EARLY ENGLISH MAPS. 

Boquet's expedition of 1764, also published a map, 
embracing a part of Lake Erie, and tlie Upper Ohio. 
John Fitch, the great American improver of steam- 
])oats, and who invented more of its useful parts 
than any other man, published a map of the Ohio 
country in 1784 or 1785. In March, 1780, he was 
made prisoner by Indians, at Blennerhasset's Island, 
near Marietta, on the Ohio, and taken by them 
through the country to Detroit. He obtained from 
them what information he could; drew, engraved 
and printed, the map with his own hands. 

Evans included in a general sketch, all the 
country westward from the sea coast, to the Missis- 
sippi River, which is remarkably accurate. His 
detailed map extends no farther West than the 
Grreat Miami. As early as 1670, the Jesuit Fathers 
published a map of Lake Superior, which appears 
to have been corrected by celestial observations. 
It seems impracticable to construct a chart of so 
large a tract, with so much geographical accuracy, 
without such corrections. The positions of impor- 
tant points on Evans' map, do not appear to have 
been determined by astronomical instruments; but 
his sources of local information, must have l^een 
very numerous and reliable. 



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84 TITLE OF EVANs' MAP. 

His title is quite a geograpliical memoir, and 
reads tliiis: 

" A GENERAL MAP 

OF THE 

MIDDLE BRITISH COLONIES IN AMERICA, 

VIZ : 

VIRGINIA, MARILAND, DELAWARE, PENSILVANIA, 

NEW JERSEY, NEW YORK, CONNECTICUT AND RHODE ISLAND ; 

OF 

Aquaishuonigy Country, of the Confederate Indians, com-preJiending 

Aquaishuonigy proper^ their place of residence; Ohio and 

Tiiuxsaxrunthe, their deer hunting country, Couxsaxrage 

and STcaniadarade, their heaver hunting countries 

of the Lakes Erie, Ontario and Champlain, 

and a part of New France ; wherein is 

also shown the antient and present 

seats of the Indian Nations." 

Note.— "The Confederates, July 19, 1701, at Albany, suiTendered 
their beaver hunting country to the English, to be defended by them 
for the said Confederates, their heirs and successors forever, and the 
same was confirmed Sept. 14, 1728, when the Senecas, Cayugaes and 
Onondagoes, surrendered their habitations from Cayahoga to Oswego, 
and sixty miles inland to the same for the same use." 

A comparison of the early maps, gives tlie best 
history of tlie migrations of Indian tribes. Their 
rapid extinction, is also made conspicuous by such 
comparisons. In place of the " Petuns" of Cham- 
plain, on the North of Lake Erie, towards the 
Falls of Niagara, are, according to Evans, the 
" Sissisoquies." Between the Oswego and Genessee 
(Kashuxca) Rivers are the " Cayugaes" ; on the 
heads of the Genessee, the Senecas; and in Ohio, 



LOCATION OF INDIAN TRIBES. 85 

the Erigas, or Eries. No notice is taken of the 
Neutral Nation. The " Chawanes" (Shawnes and 
Shawanese,) were then on the Ohio, around the 
mouths of the Scioto, and the Kenhawa. On the 
Great "Mineami," (Miami,) were the " Tawixtawis," 
and tlje Mineamis. The Hurons, Wyandots, or 
'' Wiandots," had been pushed from the North shore 
of Lake Ontario, to the western part of Lake Erie, 
embracing both shores. 

For local details, the map of Evans' is a great 
advance upon Champlain's. The outlines of Lake 
Erie are too large every way, but the resemblance 
to nature is easily traced. Several of the Lidian 
trails and portages are given, showing their prin- 
cipal routes of travel, by land and by water. 

A great war path extended southerly from the 
Tawixtawi towns, at the Forks of the Maumee, to the 
French post on the Great Miami ; afterwards known 
as Loramies ; thence to the mouth of the Scioto, and 
to the Blue Licks in Kentucky. From Loramies or 
the Piqua towns, another led eastward to the 
Delaware towns, on the Scioto ; and thence across 
the Hockhocking, probably at Lancaster, to the 
White Woman's town, at the forks of Muskinofum, 
near Coshocton. Coal is laid down on the Tusca- 
rawas, near Bolivar; petroleum on the Ohio, near 
Yellow Creek; and salt water on the Mahoning 
River, in Trumbull county. 



86 PORTAGES LAKE ERIE TO THE OHIO. 

At the issuing of this map, the French were in 
possession of all parts of Lake Erie, and its Avaters. 
No Englishman had traversed this country, unless 
it was some unknown prisoner among the Indians. 
The first of these we know of, was here in 1754-5. 
Huske's map prefixed to Douglass' summary ; a 
general history of North America, 1760, has the 
following title : 

" A Map wlierein the errors of all preceding maps^ Brit- 
ish, French and Dutch, respecting the rights of Great 
Britian, France and Spain, and the limits of each of 
his Majestifs provinces are corrected?'' 

Carrying Places between the Ohio and Lake Erie. 
From the Tojjographical Description, &c. By Capt. 
Thomas Hutchins, 60^;^ Regiment, London, 1788. 

"The Canawagy Creek, (Chataiiqiie) when raised by 
freshets, is passable with small batteaux, to a lake, 
(Chataiique) from whence is a portage of twenty miles, 
to Lake Erie, at the mouth of the Jadagque, but this is 
seldom used, as the Canawagy has scarcely any water in 
a dry season," 

Chatauque is no doubt derived from " Jadagcpie," 
or " Jadaixqua," according to Evans. 

"French Creek affords the nearest passage to Lake 
Erie, being navigable by a very crooked channel, with 
small boats to Le Beuf. The portage thence to Presque 
Isle is fifteen miles." 

" Beaver Creek has sufficient water for fiat boats. At 
Kishnskes, about sixteen miles up this creek, it has two 



PORTAGES LAKE ERIE TO THE OHIO. 87 

branches, which spread opposite ways. One interlocks 
with French Creek and Cherage ; the other with Musk- 
ingum and Cayahoga^ on which, about thirty-five miles 
above the forks, are many salt springs. It is practicable 
for canoes about twenty miles further." 

^^ From Muskingum to Cayahoga^ a creek that leads 
to Lake Erie, which is muddy and not very swift, and 
nowhere obstructed with falls or rifts, is the best portage 
between the Ohio and Lake Erie." 

" The mouth is wide and deep enough to receive large 
sloops from the lake, and will hereafter be of great 
importance." 

" The lands on the southern shore of the lake, and for 
a considerable distance from it, for several miles East of 
the Cayahoga, appear quite level, and are extremely 
fertile." 



EXPEDITIONS OF MAJOR ROGERS, MAJOR 
WILKINS, AND COL. BRADSTREET. 

1T60, 1763, 1T64. 



lu reference to the English expeditions into the 
lake country, which followed the French War, I 
have not space to notice them fully. 

Major EoBEET Rogees, of the Provincial Rangers, 
which were raised in New Hampshire, left Fort 
Niagara with his battalion in October, 1760, to 
take possession of the French Posts. The command 
sailed in batteaux, capable of carrying fifty men, 
which coasted along the south shore. When the 
wind was fair they made good progress ; if it was 
unfavorable, their boats having sails were capable 
of beating against the wind. 

Major RoGEES was a l^old, restless, enterprising, 
intrio^uino; man, who had served with distinction in 
the French War. He traveled extensively through- 
out the lake country, and published two volumes 
in reference to it in 1765. His Journal of the 
expedition to Detroit is very full. It contains the 



90 INTEEVIEW WITII PONTIAC. 

progress of nearly every day, with the courses and 
distances made on each stretch hj the l3oats. 

Historians have assumed, that the celebrated 
meeting of Pontiac, "Pondeach" or "Ponteach,'^ 
with Major Rogers and his Rangers, haughtily 
demanding by what authority the English troops, 
entered this country, occurred at the mouth of the 
Cuyahoga. 

"On the 7th of November, 1760, they reached 
the mouth of the Cuyahoga river, the present site 
of Cleveland. No body of British troops had ever 
advanced so far. The day was dull and rainy, and, 
resolving to rest until the weather should improve, 
Rogers ordered his men to prepare their camp in 
the neighboring forest. The place has seen strange- 
changes since that day." 

"Soon after the arrival of the Rangers, a party 
of Indian chiefs and warriors entered the camp. 
They proclaimed themselves an embassy from Pon- 
TiAC, ruler of all that country, and directed, in his 
name, that the English should advance no further 
until they had had an interview with the great 
chief, who was close at hand. 

"He greeted Rogers with the haughty demand 
what his business was in that country, and how he 
dared to enter it without his permission." (Park- 
man's Conspiracy, pp. 147-148.) 

Rogers himself leaves the place of this meeting 
in much obscurity. In his Journal he does not 



EEEOE IN KJ:GAED TO THE PLACE. 91 

speak of Pontiac, but in liis " Concise Account," 
published in the same year, that warrior, with his 
lordly bearing, is made conspicuous. The place 
where the interview was held is not described. 

"Nov. 4th, 1760, set out from Presque Isle, (Erie) 
and made about twenty miles. Nov. 5th, lay hj on 
account of the weather. Nov. 6th, advanced ten or 
twelve miles. Nov. 7th, set out early and come to 
the mouth of the Chogage river. Here we met 
with a party of Attawawa Indians, just arrived 
from Detroit." (Rogees' Journal, p. 214.) 

After some parley, the Indians held a council, and 
promised an answer the next morning. Nothing is 
said of the Chief, or of their assuming a threatening 
attitude. In the morning, they gave a rej^ly, and 
said their warriors should go with the party. They 
were given 2:)resents, and charged to prevent annoy- 
ance on the way, by sending some sachems with 
Capt. Beeweb, who was driving the cattle along 
shore. 

Major RoGEES was detained at "Chogage" until 
the 12th. That day, by his reckonings, stearing 
various courses, he made forty-one miles and reached 
"Elk river, as the Indians call it." Elk river, or 
" Elk creek" upon Evans' map, is east of Cuyahoga. 
During the 4th, 5th and 6th of November, Major 
RoGEES had advanced from thirty to thirty-two 
miles, which did not place him beyond Conneaut 
creek. How far he moved on the 7th, is not stated. 



92 GEOGRAPHICAL UNCERTAINTIES. 

From Conneaiit creek to Grand river, is forty miles ; 
and thence to Cuyahoga, thirty miles. Could he 
have made seventy miles on the Yth ? If so 
excellent a day's work had been done, would not 
Major Rogers have made note of it ? By his 
reckoning, it is forty-one miles from "Chogage" to 
the Elk, a distance which they accomplished on the 
12th ; but this includes the several courses run by 
his fleet of boats, standing out and in to keep 
the wind. He did not advance this distance in a 
direct line along the shore, probably not more than 
thirty miles, or from Grand river to Cuyahoga. 
From his Elk creek to Sandusky bay, is fifty miles, 
as the boats ran ; only two rivers having been 
observed on the way. His failure to note the 
distance which they made on the 'Tth, leaves the 
record very incomplete. On none of the early maps 
is Elk river laid down west of the Cuyahoga. 

In Kalm's travels, (London, 1771,) it is placed 
first on the east. Upon Jefferson's map, (Notes 
on Virginia, 1787,) it is the third river east of this; 
and on Harris' map, (1803,) the fourth. In 
Morse's Geography, (London, 1792,) there is neither 
Cuyahoga or Elk rivers, the Grand river Ijeing 
farther west than the Cuyahoga should be. 

It would be a very good day's sail in batteaux, 
to reach Grand river from Conneaut creek. The 
computed distances from thence to Sandusky, are 
approximately correct, which leaves a fair presump- 



POSITION OF ELK CREEK. 93 

tion in fkvor of the moutli of Grand river, at 
Fairport, as the place where the Ottawas lield theii' 
first interview with the English troops. 

But comparing all of Rogees' statements in 
regard to this expedition, which are not entirely 
consistent, it is by no means clear that Pontiac was 
a party in this interview. On the morning of the 
20th, the command left a river, about ten miles east 
of Sandusky l)ay, (Huron river,) encamping that 
night at the second stream beyond the bay, which 
should be the creek next west of the Portage, or 
"Carrying" river. Here Major Rogers was met 
again by an embassy, who demanded his business 
there, representing that they spoke for four hundred 
warriors, who were at the mouth of the " great 
streight," to obstruct his passage. He quieted the 
sachems by explanations and promises, and on the 
21st, they all set forward in good humor. (Rogers' 
Journal, p. 218.) 

At " Cedar Point," on the night of the 23d and 
24th, the same messengers returned, among whom 
was a sachem of the "Attawawas." The next 
morning, sixty Indians offered to escort the English 
to Detroit. Pontiac is nowhere mentioned. If he 
was present at a meeting east of the Cuyahoga, he 
was out of the country of the western Indians, and 
had no right to question the conduct of the British 
commander. Until after passing that stream, he 
was in the Territory of the Six Nations, fi'om which 



94 CIIOGAGE NOT THE CUYAHOGA. 

they liad driven the Hurons long before, making the 
Cuyahoga their boundary. All this must have been 
well known to Pontiac, and to Major Rogers. 

Sir William Jonisrsoisr, while he was Superin- 
tendent of Indian aifairs, made a journey from his 
home, on the Mohawk, to Detroit, the next season 
after the English obtained possession of that place. 
On his return, by way of the south shore, in the 
summer of 1761, his Diary has the following sen- 
tence : 

"Embarked this morning at six of ye clock, and 
intend to beach near Cayahoga this day." 

The " Cayahoga " is a prominent river on Evans' 
Map, 2~>ublished five years previous. It was well 
known to Johnson and to Rogers, who describes 
the country adjacent, in his " Concise Account." If 
the interview with Pontiac had occurred here, a 
place already notorious among the Indians and well 
known to geographers, it would have been prop- 
erly named. As a misprint, Chogage, is too far 
from Cayahoga, to warrant the conclusion that the 
words were meant for the same. Sheauga, the 
Indian name for Grand River, is much nearer both 
in sound and orthography. 

For the present, therefore, something must be left 
to conjecture, in reference to the spot where this 
great Indian warrior and medicine man, asserted 
his ideas of the suj)reinacy of his people. Finding 
himself grievously mistaken, he soon concocted a 



THE NORTH-WESTEKN CONSPIRACY. 95 

•great conspiracy of tlie noi*th-westeru tribes, wliicli 
Ijiirst fortli simultaneously, upon every Englisli gar- 
rison and trading post in the spring of 1763. 

The French fort, Junendot, at Sandusky, does 
not appear to have been garrisoned at this time. 
Between 1760 and 1763, the British put a schooner 
afloat on Lake Erie, called the " Gladwyn," which 
•carried supplies to the post at Detroit, and the 
upper forts. In the last named year, the conspiracy 
performed its bloody work. The history of that 
murderous conflict is so familiar, that I confine 
myself to other events, referring those who would 
understand this savage tragedy, in all its horrible 
details, to the fascinating narrations of Parkman. 

Major Rogers commanded a detachment, sent to 
the relief of Detroit during the seige of 1763. His 
battalion of provincials, assisted in covering the 
retreat of Dalzell's command, after their defeat at 
Bloody Run, on the morning of July 31st. 

An important expedition was sent into the Indian 
country in the fall of 1763, in command of Major 
WiLKiNs. On the night of the 7th of November, it 
was shipwrecked, and so thoroughly disorganized 
.as to be obliged to return. 

Prof. J. P. KiRTLAND, of Rockport, resides near 
the reputed spot where this calamity occurred. He 
has thoroughly investigated the historical proofs in 
support of his opinion, and has kindly furnished 
me his conclusions, with a description of the relics 
found there. This valualde paper is inserted entire : 



DISASTERS 

ATTENDING THE EXPEDITIONS OF MAJOR WILKINS, AND COLO- 
NEL (afterwards general) BRADSTREET, NEAR 
THE PRESENT CITY OF CLEVELAND. 



Bv J. P. KIRTLAND, M. D., LL. D. 

The lapse of a century casts an oblivious shade 
over imperfectly recorded events. That two expe- 
ditions, engaged in prosecuting the Pontiac War, 
were wrecked on Lake Erie, the one in the Autumn 
of the year 1763, the other about the same period 
in the year following, are well established historic 
facts. Neither authors nor tradition have, how- 
ever, attempted to point out the exact locality where 
those events occurred. * 

Since the first settlement of the township of Rock- 
port, some fifty years since, the attention of observ- 
ing individuals has been awakened, l)y the frecpient 
discoveries of vestiges of military implements, and 
other articles, not usually scattered at random in a 
new and uncultivated country. 

Those discoveries have been made at two local- 
ities : 



98 EVIDENCES OF A SHIPWRECK. 

First. — 111 the vicinity of tlie junction of Rocky 
River witli Lake Erie, embracing tlie sandy beacli 
bordering the Lake/and the right bank of the river ; 
and the high bluff now known as Tisdale's Point, 
which is an extension of the left Ijank into the Lake, 
and which presents a perpendicular rocky face, sev- 
enty feet high, on its Lake front. 

Second. — McMahon's beach, which borders the 
Lake, under a high clay bank, fronting the farms of 
Messrs. Brown, McMaiion, Col. Merwin, and the late 
Gov. Wood, and, also embracing the ridge extending 
eastwardly from the last named farm, by the resi- 
dences of Frederick Wright, John Williams, and 
Fletcher's Hotel, to the present crossing of Rocky 
River on the Plank Road bridge. 

The first named locality is seven miles, and the 
second from eio-ht to ten miles w^est of Cleveland. 

o 

A careful examination of the several discoveries, 
in connection with the historical items frirnished by 
the authorities to which reference is here made, leads 
to the conclusion that the catastrophe Avhich befel 
WiLKiNs' expedition, happened at the first named 
locality, and that of Bradstreet's at the second. 

The correctness of this conclusion will be con- 
firmed, by an examination of the peculiar and dan- 
gerous character of these localities during a storm, 
and of the manner in which these vestio-es must have 
been lost ; and a more complete comprehension of 
the terrific scenes attendant on those disasters would 



KOUTE OF THE EXPEDITION. 99 

thereby ]>e gained. Gov. Cass, in an address before 
the Historical Society of Michigan, in the year 1834, 
though laboring under some important errors in 
regard to the wi'ecking of Bradstreet's expedition, 
had a full conception of the horrors of that catastro- 
phe. 

Few of the present generation know, that either of 
these events have occurred; fewer still are aware 
of the pecuniary loss and human suffering they in- 
volved. 

WILKINS' EXPEDITION. 

PoNTiAC, with his hostile tribes of savages, captured 
most of the British forts in the west, and murdered 
their garrisons, in the spring of 1763. The posts at 
Detroit and Fort Pitt, successfully resisted his first 
attacks. A vigorous seige was carried on against 
them by the savages, during the summer following. 
While troops were collecting under Col. Boquet, (or 
Bouquet,) for the relief of Fort Pitt, a flotilla of 
batteaux from Albany ascended the Mohawk river, 
by portages reached Wood Creek, and ultimately. 
Fort Schlosser, on Niagara river, above the falls. In 
the autumn of that year, six hundred British regu- 
lars, with arms, military stores, and a train of artil- 
lery, embarked under command of Major Wilkins, 
They attempted to ascend the river, and advance to 
Detroit. 

After some delay and loss, fi'om attacks of the 



1(J() MAJOR WILKINS ON LAKE ERIE. 

Seneca Indians, tliey reached Lake Erie, but on the- 
7tli of November, were driven on sliore by a violent 
storm, lost twenty boats, witli fifty barrels of pro- 
vision, some field pieces, and all of tlieir ammunition.. 
Seventy men and three ofiicers, including their sur- 
geon, were drowned. These officers were Lieut. Da- 
vidson, of the train, Lieut. Paynter, and Dr. Wil- 
liams, of the SOtli regiment; also a French pilot.. 
After the storm abated a council of war was held,, 
and decided that the survivors should return to Ni- 
agara, where they ultimately arrived. 

The exact locality of Wilkins' disaster has hitherto- 
been a matter of uncertainty. Some persons suppose 
it was on the north sliore of the Lake. The eviden- 
ces to sustain this conclusion are the following : 

A published " Diary of the seige of Detroit," kept. 
])y a private soldier in the garrison at that place,, 
states as follows: — "Nov. IS, 1763. — This morning 
two Lidians arrived from " Point-aux-Pins," with a 
letter, one-half WTote in Erse, and the other in Eng- 
lish, from Major Monterife, (Moncriefi"e,) giving an. 
account of the batteaux being cast away, on the 7th 
instant, at the highlands, beyond the said point." 

Sir W.AI. Johnson, in a letter to the Lords of Trade,, 
locates the disaster at ninety miles from Detroit ;; 
and Lieut. Gov. Golden, in a letter to the same- 
Board, fixes it at " two-thirds of their way to De- 
troit." 

If " Point-aux-Pins" could he designated, the ques- 



HISTORICAL NOTICES. 101 

tion would at once be determined ; Ijut at the time 
■of the writing of the diary, no locality on the shores 
oi Lake Erie was designated hy that name. Such is 
the inference, from the fact that on Lewis Evans' map 
•of the Middle Colonies, published in London, dated 
June 23d, 1755, eight years before the wrecking of 
this expedition, no locality is distinguished along the 
Lake as " Point-aux-Pins." 

It is true that a recent map in Bell's History of 
'Canada, has that name affixed to a headland in Kent 
District, on the north shore of Lake Erie, but it is 
evidently of modern application. It is equally true 
that for ages a similar point, covered with tall pine 
and spruce trees, has been and is still a prominent 
object for observation, jutting into the Lake some 
twenty rods east of the mouth of Rocky River. 

Such evergreen headlands are favorite land-marks 
for the voyageurs of these western waters, who have 
never been blessed with the knowledge of charts and 
surveys. They are in the practice of using " the Point 
of Pines" as a common tenn, applicaTde to evergreen 
headlands indiscriminately, and in the year 1763 
were equally likely to use it in reference to either of 
those two points. 

The distance from Detroit specified by Sir Wivl 
Johnson and Gov. Colden, are in favor of Rock}- 
Hiver ; and the fact that the Indians carrying Mon- 
•crieffe's dispatch from " Point-aux-Pins" to the com- 
mander at Detroit occupied eleven days in its trans?- 



102 RELICS OF THE WRECK. 

mission, renders it certain tliat their route must liave 
been along tlie south shore of the Lake, among hos- 
tile tribes, and could only have been pursued stealth- 
ily, at night. The north shore, where the ^^opula- 
tion were not hostile, could have been traveled over 
l>y Indian expresses in two days. 

The presence here of numerous vestiges of military 
implements, and their absence trom the Canada local- 
ity, is almost positive evidence in favor of the for- 
mer. 

A trivial link, sometimes, is found to connect frag- 
ments, so as to form a strong chain of circumstantial 
evidence, and render it as certain as the most posi- 
tive. Such a link is lying before me. The l^lade of 
a surgeon's amputating knife, described in the an- 
nexed notes, coidd have belonged to no other person 
than the unfortunate Dr. Willta^is of the 80th Brit- 
ish regulars. 

By aid of the facts furnished by historians, an 
intimate knowledge of the locality, and the character 
of the autumnal storms, taken in connection with 
these discoveries, any one can figure to himself the 
succession of tragic scenes as they occurred, without 
requiring much play of imagination. 

Maj. MoNCRiEFFE reported in the Newport, Rhode 
Island Jt/^rc?^/'^ of December 19th, 17G3, that "at 11 
o'clock at night they were overtaken l)y a violent 

storm, which came on suddenly." "The whole 

detachment was in danger of being lost, as every 



MANNER OF THE CATASTROPHE. 105 

batteaux tliat reached shore was more than half full 
of water." 

When thus threatened they ,douT)tless attempted 
to gain a safe harl)or within the mouth of Rocky 
River. The channel is narrow, and lies immediately 
in contact with the high and perpendicular cliff 
forming the terminus of the left bank. The eastern 
margin of the channel is bounded l)y a hidden sand- 
l)ar, covered with a few feet of water, extending at 
right angles into the Lake a number of rods. Dur- 
ing a storm the waves sweep over this bar with tre- 
mendous force, l:)reaking some sixty to eighty feet in 
height, against the cliff. A boat, to enter the river 
at such times, must hug the cliff, amidst the surf, in 
order to avoid this concealed bar. 

An inexperienced pilot would, however, give that 
surf a wide berth, and, as a consequence, would be 
stranded on the bar. This, no doubt, was the fate 
of several of their batteaux ; others were j)robably 
driven high and dry, on the sandy and marshy beach 
east of the bar ; and others succeeded in reaching a 
safe harbor within the mouth of the river. Those 
upon the bar, if they were not at once sunk in the 
changeable and engulphing quicksands, would soon 
be dashed in fi'agments by the force of the waves. 
The batteaux w^ere built of light materials, to fit 
them for two extensive portages, over which they 
passed, between the Hudson river and Lake Erie. 
The capacity of each was adapted to the carrying of 



104 THEIR ca:mp. 

one hundred men, arms, anmiunition, stores, and a 
small cannon, which was placed npon the bow. Such 
a craft was illy adapted to resist the forces here act- 
ing ujion it. The crews of the boats which gained 
the harbor no doubt sought a landing-place. It was 
not afforded in those days l)y the eastern or right 
bank of the river, Avhich then consisted of a marshy 
tract of bottom land, or of precipitous cliifs ; and the 
left bank was of a similar character, except just 
within the point, where a gully of lower inclination, 
running from the margin to the level of the upland, 
rendered access to the latter comparatively easy. 
Through this gully the survivors found a refuge from 
the uncomfortable lowlands, inundated and swept 
by the surf. Here they formed a camp fire, within 
a circle of boulders, and around it collected the ves- 
tiges from their wrecks. They remained till the 
storm abated, probably three days, as that is the 
period usually occupied by autumnal storms on Lake 
Erie. A period as long as that, is indicated by 
the accumulation of ashes and charcoal lately disin- 
terred. 

Here were probably l)rought the bodies of their 
drowned comrades, together with their arms, cloth- 
ing, etc., among which were the pocket-case instru- 
ments of their dead surgeon. The bayonet here 
found belonged to some of the soldiers, and the 
eroded case knife to their cuisine. ( Yide annexed 
note.**) The dead were prol)ably l)uried on the 



DEPAKTUllE FKO.M ROCKY EIVEK. 105 

adjacf lit i)lateaiT, in the native forest, now occupied 
as a lawn by Capt. Tisdale. 

In due time the men were recruited, their cloth- 
ing dried, and the surviving boats repaired. The 
ammunitionless expedition then retired down the 
Lake, and ultimately arrived in safety at Fort 
Schlosser, without having afforded any relief to the 
garrison at Detroit. 

Two miles north-westerly from the locality of this 
disaster, following the Lake shore, we arrive at the 
long and narrow spit of land known as McMahon's 
beach. Undoubted evidences determine it to have 
been the seat of a still more destructive catastrophe, 
which befel 

BRADSTKEET'S EXPEDITION. 

The Indian war continuing into the summer of 
1764, Col. BoQUET advanced with his forces from 
Fort Pitt to the Muskingum river, and Col. Brad- 
street, Avith a well appointed army of three thousand 
men, entered Lake Erie in a flotilla of batteaux. 

After a campaign of varied success, in which the 
conduct of the latter compares very unfavorably 
with the former, who, duped by the duplicity of the 
savages, and laboring under a heavy censure from 
his commander in chief, commenced his return down 
the Lake, with a force of about eleven hundred men. 

On the 18th of October, 1764, he precipitately left 
Sandusky Bay, not even recalling his scouts and 
8 



106 beadstreet's shipwreck. 

hunters. "The boats of tlie army had scarcely 
entered Lake Erie when a storm descended on them, 
destroying; several, and throwing the whole into con- 
fusion. For three days the tempest raged unceas- 
ingly, and when the angry Lake began to resume its 
tranquility, it was found that the remaining boats 
were insufficient to convey the troops. A large body 
of Indians, together with a detachment of provin- 
cials, were therefore ordered to make their way to 
Niagara, along the })athless borders of the Lake. 
They accordingly set out, and after many days of 
hardship reached their destination, though such had 
been their sufferings from fatigue, cold and hunger, 
from wading swamps, swimming creeks and rivers, 
and pushing their way through tangled thickets, that 
many of the provincials perished miserably in the 
woods. On the 4th of November, seventeen days 
after their departure from Sandusky, the main body 
of the army arrived in safety at Niagara, and the 
whole, embarking on Lake Ontario, proceeded to 
Osweso. Fortune still seemed adverse to them, for a 
second tempest arose, and one of the schooners, 
crowded Avith troops, foundered in sight of Oswego, 
though most of the men were saved." — Parhman^p. 
476-7. Additional facts are furnished in Stone's Life 
of Johnson^ p. 230, as follows: 

" The sequel of the expedition was singularly un- 
fortunate. When a few days out from Sandusky, 
and about to encamp for the night, Col. Bradstreet, 



DISTEESSING JOUKNEY OVERLAND. l07 

instead of landinij^ at the mouth of a neiii-hl)oi'iii*'< 
rive]', [Kocky, or Cuyahoga? ] where the boats couhl 
have hiin in safety, persisted in disembarking at a 
spot wliich it was tokl him was visited by heavy 
surfs. The result of his obstinacy was, that a heavy 
storm arising, twenty-five of the batteaux were 
dashed in pieces, and most of the ammunition and 
baggage lost, together with the field train of six 
brass cannon. A hundred and fifty men were there- 
fore compelled to make the journey to Niagara on 
foot, through a wilderness of four hundred miles, 
filled with savage men and savage beasts, and crossed 
hy deep rivers and fearful morasses. Many perished 
on the way, and those who finally reached Niagara 
were spent with fatigue, cold and hunger. On the 
4th of November the main body of the army, weary 
and shattered, entered the gates of Fort Niagara. 
Stragglers continued to come in, day after day, nor 
was it until the last of December, that all the survi- 
vors reached their homes." 

Franklin B. Hough, M. D., of the Bureau of Mili- 
tary Statistics, at Albany, N. Y., has had the good- 
ness to furnish me with copious extracts from un- 
published letters of Sir Wm. Johnson, written in the 
winter of 1763, and spring of 1864, and now on file 
in that bureau. They were addressed to Gen. Gage, 
Charles Lee, Lt. Col. Eyre ; also, to the Lords of the 
Board of Trade, and to some unknown person. 
They confirm the statements of the foregoing quota- 
tions, and furnish other particulars. 



108 CENSURE OF BRADSTREET. 

In his letter to Gen. Gage he imputes the wreck- 
ing to Bradstreet's relpng solely upon a Detroit 
pilot, " a notorious villian," — a Frenchman, who had 
been in the confidence of the late Capt. Dalyell or 
Dalzell, whose death he caused the year before, by 
betrajdng him into an ambuscade. This pilot, it 
seems, refused to run into a large river [Black River] 
after the storm commenced, and at length persisted, 
contrary to the sentiment of the army, in drawing 
up his boats along an open and exposed beach, [Mc- 
Mahon's,] though, had he gone a little farther, 
another large river [either Rocky or Cuyahoga,] 
affc-rded a safe harbor. As a consequence, before 
the following morning one-half of his boats were 
lost, and he bm-ied his cannon and ammunition " by 
day, all in the sight of ye French villian," whom he 
fears, will, on his return, cause them to be taken up, 
and employed against Detroit. 

He also alludes to the overland return of 170 In- 
dians and Rangers, without an ounce of provision at 
their starting, and speaks of the kindness of the Sen- 
eca Indians of Chenusio, [Genesee,] treating tamished 
soldiers with great humanity, feeding them gradu- 
ally till they recovered, <fec. The loss of officers and 
men by the wreck, was, it is said, made the subject 
of legislative action, reports and petitions, in the 
colony of New York. If the records and documents 
should be examined in relation thereto, more light 
would no doubt be obtained on the subject. 



KOW THE BOATS WERE LOST. 109 

That the storm must have overtaken the expedi- 
tion somewhere between Sandusky and Black river, 
is evident from the fact that off the latter place, the 
army had already become alarmed, and were anxious 
to run into that port. That McMahon's beach was 
the place where the disaster occurred, is equally evi- 
dent, for no other "open beach," such as the one 
described, is to be found east of Black river and west 
of Rocky river, and along this beach vestiges of an 
extensive wi*eck have been found. 

It appears that the boats were closely drawn up 
against the shore, without any special precaution, 
the crews and troops encamped on the then dry 
beach. A furious north-westerly storm soon raised 
before it the waters of the Lake, swept the surf over 
the beach, and broke with temfic force against the 
abrupt clay banks. This occurred suddenly, during 
the night. The frail batteaux were either sunk, 
dashed to fragments, or driven high over the bar, to 
the base of the cliffs. One-half of their number, it 
seems, were destroyed before morning. The men, 
amidst these horrors, in darkness and confusion, could 
only find safety by reaching the overlooking plateau, 
through several gullies which are cut through it 
down to the level of the Lake — and also through 
the narrow interval skirting McMahon's run. The 
banks of these gullies, are also nearly as inaccessible 
at many places as the clay cliffs fronting the Lake ; 
and in wet weather are equally as slippery and 



llO THEIR ACCOT^TEEMENTS FOttJfl). 

impassable. In a bank of a gully on Col. Merwin's 
falm, a Imyonet was found a few years since, forced 
to its ])ase into the tenacious clay, some six or seven 
feet above the bottom of the run, which had evi- 
dently been used as a fixture, by which the retreat- 
ing soldiers drew themselves up to the top of the 
bank. 

'•In another instance, a company of soldiers, in- 
vested with their bayonets, belts and cartridge boxes, 
gained the upland skirting the right l)ank of Mo- 
Maiton's run, probably wet and fatigued, stripped 
themselves of their cumbersome implements, and 
piled them systematically and soldierly-like, against 
the foot of a chesnut tree. After the lapse of more 
than half a century, the bayonets were found by Mc- 
Mahon, covered with leaves and herbage. Near by 
a 'inusket barrel was also discovered by him, enclosed 
in the fork of a tree by the growth of wood. It had 
IWen placed in an inclined position, and had there 
remained undisturbed until the tree had completely 
invested it. 

The mornino; ensuino; found the survivors in mel- 
ahcholy groups, overlooking an angry and tumultu- 
ons lake, the beach strewed with the l)odies of their 
dead comrades, and the remains of their boats, arms 
and provision. The number of lives here lost is not 
known. 

When the storm abated, Bradstreet proceeded to 
launch and repair such of his boats as had escaped 



IIEMAINS of TiiE BOATS. Ill 

destruction, and to collect and l)uiy tlie cannon and 
ammnnition whicli could l)e recovered. The place 
of their deposit, was probably at the eastern part of 
a clay cliff, some ten rods west of the mouth of Mc- 
Maiion's run. From time to time the lake has in- 
fringed on this cliff. Some years since two six pound 
cannon balls, and numerous musket balls were 
washed out. The cannon had either been disinterred 
and removed in early days by the British, or washed 
into the Lake by the wearing away of the shore. 

One of the batteaux, cast high upon the bottom 
land near this cliff', and probably rendered unsea- 
worthy, was burned, to prevent its ftiUing into un- 
friendly hands. The nails, rudder hangings, l)ow 
ring, and other irons, as well as the ashes and char- 
coal remaining after its destruction, were ploughed 
up by McMahon many years since. 

The other vestiges that were discovered in this 
locality are referred to in the annexed description. 

What became of the British resfulars belons'ina' 
to the expedition we know not, l)ut it is inferred 
that they embarked in the surviving boats, on their 
way to Niagara, taking with them all the provisions ; 
leaving the Provincials and friendly Indians to make 
their way provisionless, through an inhospitable 
wilderness to the same point of destination. These 
Provincials were under the command of the then 
Maj. IsEAEL Putnam, suljsequently Major General in 
the service of the United States ; and with him was 



112 THE AVILDERNESS IMARCIt. 

tlie same Indian Chief, who caj)tured him near Tieon- 
deroga, in the year 1758. After the surrender of 
Montreal to the British, these two renowned parti- 
sans met, became friends, and the latter joined that 
l)art of Bradstreet's expedition, under Putnam's 
command. 

This body of Provincials was raised in Connecti- 
cut, New York, and New Jersey. Massachusetts 
refused to participate, in furnishing her cpiota. 

It is remarkable that no minute histor}" of the 
overland journey which closed this campaign has 
l>een preserved. The individuals who went out from 
those three colonies were intelligent, and in the prac- 
tice of wi'iting. It is very probable that some neg- 
lected gari'ets contain diaries and correspondence, 
filed away with forgotten papers, which would fur- 
nish details of this expedition. Their track from 
McMahon's beach to the crossing of Pocky river, 
near the present plank road bridge, is made evident 
by the various articles dropped along the way. The 
immediate shores of the Lake between these two 
points, though seventy feet above the water, was 
wet and swampy. To avoid this they resorted to 
the dry ridge running through the premises of Fred- 
erick Wright and John Williams, and curving par- 
allel to the river through Mr. Patchen's grounds, to 
the place of the present plank road gate. Here they 
prepared for their tedious march, disencumbered 
themselves of all useless and perhaps some valuable 



GUN FLINTS AND SPOONS. 11 ?> 

articles; before attempting to pass the liigli and pre- 
cipitous banks of the river. Many of these articles 
have been discovered in recent times. 

Some one entrusted with a sack or box of gun 
flints, containing several (piarts, threw down his 
charge near the residence of Frederick Wright, by 
whom it was disinterred a few years since. An an- 
tique silver teaspoon, was ploughed from the earth 
at the earliest cultivation of John Williams' orchard, 
forty years ago — an utensil that no doubt belonged 
to some officer's mess. A sword and several bayo- 
nets were also ploughed up, a little north and east 
of that place, according to common report. 

In the gardens of Mr. Patciien, at the Plank- 
Road House, coins have been found, bearing date 
early in the last century ; one, a French silver coin, 
of the year 1714, and an English copper penny, of 
1749. These coins were probably thrown do\^ni 
in discarded clothing, or in forsaken knapsacks. 

Nothing more is known of their sufl:erings during 
their march to Niagara, than is contained in the let- 
ters of Sir W]M. Johnson, On their arrival at Al- 
bany the Regulars went into winter quarters ; the 
Provincials proceeded to their homes, and were 
disbanded. 

Gen. Bradstreet died at New York in 1772. 

From the time of these disasters to the war with 
Great Britain, these localities were not much fre- 
quented })y the Indians, and only cursorily visited 



114 tOST CAT^NON. 

l)y white liuiiters ; hence these i-elics escaped obser- 
vation, nntil the present population commenced their 
settlements about the year 1815. 

These views are believed to afford a correct 
solution of the historical problem, involved in tlie 
above discoveries. They are left for either confirma- 
tion or rejection by futiu'e investigations. 

Ample room remains for further research at both 
localities. A number of cannon are doubtless 
concealed in the sands, fronting McMaiion's beach, 
and the bar extending into the lake from the right 
bank of Rocky river. Storms and fishermen's nets, 
are annually revealing other vestiges of these disas- 
ters. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE RELICS. 

1st. An ancient and elaborately finished sword 
thrown by the surf on the beach fronting the riglit 
bank of the river, in the year 1820, which was 
picked up by Oiim Joiner, a member of the famil}' 
of Datus Kelley. The hilt temiinated in a ponder- 
ous lions head, which, and tlie guard, were of pure 
and solid silver. It was subsequently sold to a 
Cleveland goldsmith, and tlie silver was melted 
down for other uses. 



iliiMAINS OF A BOAT. lit) 

If I am coiTectly informed, the lion's head was, in 
the last century, the insignia, to designate the naval 
from the land service of Great Britain — hence it is 
inferred that this sword belonged to a naval officer 
attached to the flotilla — probably the commander. 

2d. In the spring of 1842, a heavy storm broke 
up and rearranged the hidden sand bar, extending 
at right angles with the beach, from the east bank 
far into the lake. Evidences were abundant at that 
time that one of the sunken barges, which had been 
engnlphed in the quicksands, for more than three- 
fourths of a century was also broken up. Gun-flints, 
brass guards of muskets, eroded bayonets and frag- 
ments of musket barrels, were cast on the shore or 
were found among the sands in shoal water. Many 
of these articles were observed by John" Williams, 
Capt. BuELiNGHAME, and Frederick Wright ; who 
are among the few survivors of our early settlers 
that recollect the circumstances. 

In one night, the last named individual, hauled in 
six bayonets, while sweeping this bar with his 
seine, soon after that storm occurred. 

The surf also threw high upon the beach, the 
bow-stem of a large boat or batteau. The wood was 
much chafed, and water-soaked, a heavy iron ring- 
bolt, perforating it, secured by a nut, was deeply 
incrusted with rust. A thick coating of aquatic 
moss or algae, invested a portion of the wood, while 
other portions had evidently been buried in the 



1 1 C) BAYONETS AND KNR^ES. 

sand. It I'eniaiued on the shore for a year or two, 
when it was bnrned l)y iishermen, and I secured the 
ring-bolt. 

At that time, it attracted the attention of common 
observers, and was in their minds, indefinitely asso- 
ciated with the other relics, but no one in tlie 
vicinity, was then in possession of the historical facts 
connected with those t^vo disasters. 

Since the year 1850, no further discoveries have 
been made on that beach. 

8d. In the year 1859, a bayonet was thrown out 
by a plow on the margin of the plateau, overlooking 
the left bank of the river, between Tisdale's point, 
and the highway, running from the plank-i'oad to 
the residence of Col. JMerwhst. In the year 1863, 
Capt. Tisdale, while constructing a private road 
to his residence on the point, uncovered with a 
plow, the circle of boulders inclosing a quantity of 
ashes and charcoal — the remains of a camp-fire, to 
which allusion has already been made, and which is 
near where the bayonet was discovered. 

On the outer margin of the circle were, dug out 
of the earth, the remains of a case-knife, nearly 
consumed by rust, and the blade of a surgeon's am- 
l>utating knife. The bayonet and the amputating 
knife I have among my collection of relics. 

4th. The ring-bolt, rudder irons, nails, and other 
i-emnants of a consumed batteau, were exposed by 



RELICS ON MC MAHOn's PLACE. Il7 

clearing of the l^ottom at the month of McMaiion's 
run, soon after the first settling of the township. 

5th. A stack of bayonets, covered with accumu- 
lated soil, rubbish and rank vegetation, and the re- 
mains of a musket, resting in the crotch of a tree, 
encased in the growth of wood; were discovered 
a]:)out the same period of time, as were the relics of 
the batteau. 

6th. Several years later, two six-pound cannon 
balls and a number of leaden musket balls, were 
exposed to view, by undemiining, by the Lake of 
the clay-cliff, which rises from the western margin 
of the bottom lands. These, no doubt, were among 
the articles, buried by Bradstreet, with his cannon 
and ammunition, as described ]jy Sir Wm. Johnson. 

All of the aforenamed relics were discovered by 
Mr. McMahon, and most of them were preserved by 
his family for a considerable time. All seem now to 
be lost, except the two six-pound cannon balls, 
which the family retain, and one of the musket 
balls, that is in my possession. 

7th. About the year 1831, a young daughter of 
Datus Kelly, now Mrs. Charles Carpenter, of 
Kelly's Island, found an antique silver spoon on 
the beach, opposite the present residence of Col. 
Merwin. She dug it out of the sand while at play. 
It is thick and heavy for its size, the workmanship, 
which is coarse, is evidently old, and is of the model 



118 TOMAHAWK AND BAYONETS. 

of those that were common, in the more wealthy 
families in New England during the last century. 

On the under side of the tip of the handle, the 
initials I. C. are engraved, and on the same side near 
its junction with the bowl, are stamped the initials 
of the maker, A. S. Mrs. Carpenter has had the 
care and good taste to retain it in her possession as 
an interesting relic. 

8th. On the 4th of July, 1851, Oscar Taylor, 
in company with several young men, while bathing 
in the lake at McMahon's cove, some forty rods 
west of the run, discovered in the water a teaspoon 
similar in all respects, except the engraved initials 
are S. T. He now resides at New London, Wiscon- 
sin, and retains the spoon. On the same occasion 
Stephen M. Taylor found an old bayonet near that 
locality, but neglected to preserve it. 

9th. Still farther to the west, on the beach op- 
posite the farm of Mr. Brown, the j)roprietor dis- 
covered many years since, an iron or steel tomahawk, 
constructed to answer also the purpose of a pipe for 
smoking. It is lost. 

10th. In the year 1859 an extensive slide from 
the high land, overlooking the lake and the right 
bank of McMahon's run, took place. While ex- 
amining: it, Edwin Bidwell noticed the end of a 
bayonet, still bearing the metallic tip of the sheath, 
projecting from the undisturbed margin of the bank, 
about twelve inches below the surface, the depth of 



OLD ENGLISH MUSKETS. 119 

the soil that seems to have accumulated over many 
of these relics, dropped on the laud, a hundred 
years since. This bayonet was invested in the fine 
grained blue clay, formed ftom the breaking down 
of the adjacent shales, in which condition it is 
thrown upon the margin of the high banks of the 
lake, by the surf during storms. So perfectly did 
this investing material, protect the bayonet against 
the action of erosive agents, that it now retains 
much of its original polish, and is entire in all its 
parts. Through the kindness of Mr. B. I have it in 
my collection. 

11th. In the same collection are also a number 
of bayonets, less perfect, collected by the families 
of Gov. Wood and Col. Merwin. These, at difl^erent 
times, were thrown up by the surf, or Avere drawn 
out of the water by fishermen's seines. One thus 
obtained was still attached to a large fragment of a 
musket barrel. 

Two years since, a very entire and perfect musket 
barrel was obtained in the same manner, and pre- 
sented to me by the fishermen. It belonged to an 
English Queen's arm of the last century. It exactly 
receives the bayonet found by Mr. Bidwell, and the 
lead ball, washed from the clay bank at McMahon's 
run. 

The locality, along the beach at Col. Merwin's, 
where many of these relics have been found, is a 
favorite fishing ground, but the fishermen, after a 



120 RELICS YET BURIED THERE. 

few trials, are annually compelled to abandon it, as 
their seines are certain to l)ecome entangled by hid- 
den and fixed objects some rods from the land. 
Often they are cnt and injured, and they draw in 
various relics. The remains of some of Brad- 
street's engulphed batteaux are doul)tless the oIj- 
structions against which they become arrested. 

12th. Pursuing the survivors' track fi'om the 
beach, where they were overwhelmed by the storm, 
we first arrive at the ridge, near the house of Fred- 
erick Wright. There he some years since disinterred 
the collection of gun flints above referred to. In 
quantity they are said to have amounted to a j^eck 
or more. They were adapted to the heavy musket, 
but had never been used. I have not succeeded in 
obtaining a specimen; though the authority upon 
which the above statement is made, is good. 

18th. Still further east along the ridge is the 
orchard of John Williams, where, at the first break- 
ing up of the ground, a silver teaspoon was exposed, 
some thirty or more years since. It ^vas retained 
by him until recently, when it was lost. From re- 
port it seems to have been similar to those previous- 
ly described, and doubtless belonged to some of the 
officers of the expedition. 

A vague report also states that a num))er of relics, 
including a sword and several Imyonets, ^vere in 
early times discovered in the next lot east, lately 



BinUAL OK TIIH DEAD. 121 

owned l>y Wm. Allen. No sutistkctory coiitiniui- 
tioii of it can l)e obtained. 

14tli. A few rods still lartlier to the east, in tlie 
garden of tlie Patelien Inn, Mr. SiLVEKTiioiiN, in 
1802, while excavating to ])ut out a fruit tree, dis- 
covered some three or four dollars in silver, in small 
])ieces of change, of French and English coinage, 
one bearing date in 1717, and all of them earlier 
than 1704. It is to be regretted that he soon pass- 
ed them otf at their nominal value. 

loth. Mr. P. A. Delford, residing at the plank- 
road gate, discovered, in 1803, while digging in his 
garden a few rods from the last named locality, two 
copper pennies of 1719, bearing the effigies of 
George IL of Great Britain. 

I have perhaps been tediously minute in these de- 
tails, but my object was to facilitate the labors of 
any future investigator, who may attempt to divest 
this subject of any remaining doubts and obscuri- 
ties. 

A theory, to account for the manner in wliich 
these relics were scattered and deposited, at these 
several points has been already given. 

A tumulus or grave of unknown dead, long since 
oljserved, on the right bank of the Kocky river, I 
have not noticed; yet I have little doubt, it has an 
intimate connection with one or the other of these 
disasters. 

It is situated one hundred and fifty feet east of 
9 



122 A TUMULUS EAISED. 

tlie plank road bridge, at the head of a gully, that 
formerly cut, from the high ground down to the 
bottom land, near the present bridge. This gully 
has been j^artially obliterated, by the construction of 
the road. In its pristine condition, it was the only 
accessible way, from the river to the uplands, except 
a similar gully nearer the lake, and at the head of 
^vhich that ancient camp-lire was established, on the 
left bank of the river. 

This tumulus was observed at the time of the 
clearing of the land, forty years since, but as it was 
ascertained that it abounded with human bones, the 
early cultivators were careful to shun it. It then 
rose from two to three feet, above the level of the 
adjacent ground, and was about one rod square. 
The covering of earth was so thin that a spade easily 
reached the bones ; and the surface was strewed with 
their fragments. 

The common belief was, that it was an Indian 
grave. Mr. WoROEisr, plowing the field with two 
yoke of oxen, seventeen years since, attempted to 
level it down by running his plow deeply through 
it. His furrows seemed to consist mostly of human 
bones, skulls in large proportion ; and all in a very 
perfect state of preservation. He again interred 
them, and avoided any further disturbance of the 
locality. He informed me, that his sons, then small 
lads, picked up, from the rubbish of bones many 
small articles, such as metallic buttons and pieces of 



CRANIOLOGY. 123 

iron. The former were entire, the latter were nearly 
destroyed with rust. It was a mystery with him and 
his family, how the early Indians should possess so 
many of these articles. One of those sons, now an 
adult, confirms fully the statement of his father. 

In 1861 Mr. Eatois- again plowed into it, and 
threw U23 bones in like manner. Of the large ones, 
he brought me at least two bushels, including a 
dozen craniums, and I subsequently made addition- 
al collections. 

On examining them, they evidently were middle 
aged or younger adults, and all males. I pronounc- 
ed them to be either Greeks or Anglo-Saxons, and 
not then knowing, that a Greek colony had ever set- 
tled within the Union, I concluded, of course, they 
must have belono;ed to the latter race — which was 
confirmed hj the decision of one of the most perfect 
of craniologists in our country. My further conclu- 
sion was, that they were the remains of those who 
perished in one of the shipwrecks, on the adjacent 
coast. 

The follo^ving year, Mr. Kiekpateick and myself, 
made a thorough exploration to the bottom of the 
tumulus. This we reached at the depth of two or 
three feet, after digging through a rich com2:)ost of 
bones and decayed animal matter. The bottom tier of 
skeletons at that place, had not been disturbed since 
their interment. We examined two — one large and 
middle aged, the other somewhat smaller and young- 



124 AMONd THEM WERE INDIANS. 

er, iiulo-iiio; from the, teeth and leno;th of the bones. 
Both were lying on their sides, thrown there in a 
careless manner. By the front of tlie large one, and 
near its middle, lay in close contact, tlie following 
articles, to Avit : two small fragments of ancient In- 
dian pottery, of the days of the race of mound 
building; one valve of tlie luiio siliquoides of the 
western rivers ; a knife, or spatula formed from 
bone, and the })eculiar l)one of one of the sexes of 
the raccoon. They occu})ied a small place only, and 
could have been enil>i'aced as charms, or amulets in 
an Indian's pouch, or the 2)ocket of a soldier as ob- 
jects of curiosity. 

This discovery led to the conclusion that they all 
were Indian skeletons, but on re-examining such of 
the craniums as have not been lost, I am led to l)e- 
lieve that the one of large size, found at the bottom 
of the grave, was that of an Indian, while the others 
were Anglo-Saxon. 

The grave was evidently shallow, not over three 
feet deep. The l)odies were thrown in one on an- 
other without much care, and ^veve covered super- 
ficially, raising the tumidus two or three feet above 
the surface of the adjacent groimd, in the manner 
soldiers are many times buried on recent l)attle- 
iields. 

That these individuals perished in one or the 
other of those wreckings, can be hardly doubted. 
That Bradstreet had with him many Indians is 



OONFLICTINO VlEWri OF THE LOCALITV. 12.") 

certain, but nothing is known as to tlie niinilxn' of 
men lie lost : tliouo-li tliat number was consideral)le 
is inferred from tlie fact tliat " the losses of officers 
and men l)y the wreck, was made the subject of 
legislative action." That Wilkins lost a specified 
numl)er, is well established ; seventy men and three 
officers, but whether he was accompanied by Indians 
is not recorded. Such was j^robal^ly the fact, for 
ihej were wont to take part in all military move- 
ments in those days, and he would need them as 
scouts and guides to his expedition. One or more 
were probably lost, and were thrown into the bot- 
tom of this grave. Its dimensions adapted it for 
the reception of about the number of his dead. 

Another view may l:>e taken. I may err in the 
conclusion, that one was an Indian's skull. All may 
l)e Anglo-Saxon. The Indian amulets, may have 
been collected l;)y a sailor while among the Indians, 
retained as curiosities in a pocket of his clothing 
and with his person buried in this grave, after he 
perished. .r. p. k. 

We have the example of Herodotus for introdu- 
cing discussions and opposing statements, in cases 
where the evidence is not historically conclusive. 
He gives in this way an interesting variety, and an 
air of candor to his narrations. 

Prof. Kirtland's investigations leave reasonable 
doubts, in reference to the locality of Major Wil- 



li!»> OLD XEWSPAPER AOOOl'XTS. 

kins' disaster. The additional testimony wliieli 1 
noM- introdiiee, favors tlie impression that it occurred 
on the noith shore, nearly opposite Cleveland, Init 
does not entirely relieve the obscimty of the subject. 
A letter in the Newport 2rtrci(ri/, (^E. I..^ of De- 
cember ilOth, 17 Go, states the shipwreck to have 
happened at " Point-aux-Pins," or Pine Point, already 
referred to by Prof Kiktla^d. Pine Point is the 
only recognized name, for a short spit which projects 
into the Lake at the - Rond-eau." Roudout, or round 
water, on the Canada shore. This point is visible 
on EvAxs' map, but is there without a name. It 
projects in a southerly and westerly direction into 
the water, the bearing of which upon the question 
of locality, will appear u]H^n reading the following 
extract, to which reference has already been made. 

Extract from the ^'JTucport Jtftrcuri/^'^ DtCtmhtr -0^//, 
1763, from a JTew Yorl letter dirted Deeemher 19M. 

•'The same day 3[ajor ^L^xckieffe arrived here 
from Niagara. He belonged to the detachment un- 
der the command of ^lajor AVit.kixs. destined from 
Niagara for Detroit, 1\v whom we learn that ou the 
7th, ultimo, at 11 o'clock at night, eighteen of their 
boats foimdered ou Lake Erie, in a violent storm 
at south-east, which came on suddenly, by which 
seventy brave men were droA\ ned. 

"Among the number was Lieut. Davidsox of the 
train, and nineteen of his men, also Lieut. Payxtek 



TltE STORM A SOUTitERLY ONE. 127 

aiul Doctor AVILLIA:M^^ of the 80tb, and a Freucli 
jnlot. The whole detachment Avas in danger of 
being lost, as every batteaux that reached the shore 
was more than half full of water, l)y which means 
sixty odd barrels of jn'ovisions, all the ammiiuitioii 
but two rounds to the man, which the olhcers saved 
in their hands, and two small brass field pieces were 
lost ; and that after holding a council of war it was 
thought most prudent to return to Niagara." 

A wind at south-east, or in a southerly direction, 
could not have been the occasion of a dangerous 
sea on a straight southerly coast. In turning any 
projecting land on the north shore, a storm at any 
point of compass, south of an east and west line, 
would be dangerous, if it was severe. 

Among the manuscripts of the Maryland His- 
torical Society, at Baltimore, is the unpuldished 
journal of Lieut. Ja3ies Gorell, who was in the ex- 
pedition. The Rev. E. A. Dalryjiple, secretary 
of the society, has transcribed for my use, what i"e- 
lates directly to the shipAM'eck. 

From allusions to attacks from the Indians in 
other parts of the journal, he supposes the party to 
have followed the southern shore of the Lake. This 
extract, however, states that they were delayed by 
contrary winds at "Long Point" ten days. On 
Evans' map this is the name given to the slender 
promontory opposite Erie, which it has retained 
ever since. No other point of that name or character 
exists in any part of Lake Erie. 



1 2S LlKrT. (JOKKLl/s STATEMENT. 

Extract from, the Journal of Lieut. Jai\[ES (tORKll con- 
ceniiiig the shljmweck of Jfajor Wilkins' command., 
Novemher 1th, 1763. 

"At 10 o'clock at niglit we set sail and continued 
all nig'lit and next day, until we came to the loui;" 
])oint. There we were obliged to stay for ten days. 
The day Ave left we got a good wind until Ave came 
to a place called Fish Creek, where we were obliged 
to lay nine days more ; on the ninth day the Avind 
tavored us, and the Major ordered us all uj), Avith 
instructions to keep Avell out from the land and to 
continue all night. About two hours after dark 
there arose a storm, and we lost nineteen l>atteaux, 
the most of them the largest and ])est. Lieut. Da- 
vidson and all the powder boats Avere lost in this 
storm. (^Xof /eyihie.) Was droAvned, of the artillery, 
Lieut. Paintkk, late of the Lidependent, Doctor 
Willta:ms, of the 80th regiment, Avith four sergeants, 
sixty-three privates and one Canadian. The next 
day Ave attem])ted to gather the Avreck, but found 
little or none, except Lieut. Daa'idson and about six 
men, which we buried. As soon as the Lidians 
Avere gone out of sight (they AA'ere sent by land to 
Detroit), avc set sail and arrived at Niagara the 
latter end of Noveml>er." 

Tlie distance from the " Kond-eau"" in a direct line 
to Detroit is sixty miles; by Avay of the Lake shore 
betAveen ninety and one hundred. From Kocky 
ri\ (M- by land to the same place, is one Imndred and 



ITS ACJIIKK.MKNT WITH IMONCKIEF. 1 2!» 

fifty to one Iniiidred and sixty miles. No mention 
is made l)y Monchief or Gouell, of tlie post at 
Presque Isle on the south shore, where they wouhl 
have called, and received sn])plies had they passed 
that way. The soiitli sliorc route is nearly one liuii- 
drcd miles longer than the north, a distance whicli 
it was of great consequence to save, at this season of 
fall storms on tlie Lake. 

lloGEiis took the soutliern route hecause he was 
required to visit Fort Pitt, and to procure cattle fi'om 
that region. Tlie ohject of I^kadstreet's expedi. 
tion Avas to strike the Ohio Indians living on the 
south shore. 

All the relics j^rocured at Ilock])ort may have he- 
longed to Bkadstkeet's l)arty, whose boats were no 
douht scattered hy the storm and came ashore at 
different points. One of the contemporary accounts 
states, that they stood holdly out on the Lake, hoping 
to weather the rocky ])orti()n of the coast, before 
they were beached. Between Long Point and Ron- 
dout, on the Canada shore, is Catfish creek, Avliich 
may have had that name at that time. The num])er 
of bodies recovered was only six, while those buried 
at liocky river, were from sixty to seventy. This is 
the extent of our ])resent knowledge upon this sul)- 
ject. 



FRENCH AND ENGLISH TRADERS. 



The moutli of the Cuyahoga, was a jooint of too 
iiiucli consequence among the Indians, not to l)ring 
traders here at a very early day. Between 1700 and 
1750, the French extended tlieir forts and trading 
posts, to all points on the waters of the lakes and of 
the Ohio river. In the last named year they had a 
fort at Sandusky, and in 1755 a trading house on 
the Cuyahoga, opposite the mouth of Tinker's creek. 

James Smith, of Pennsylvania, sj^ent the winter of 
1755 — 6 on the " Cayahoga," not as a trader, but as 
a prisoner among the Delawares. He left a nan^ative 
of his caj^tivity, in which the country watered l)y 
the Cuyahoga, the Black, and the Kilbuck rivers, is 
fully descril)et1. From 1760 to 1764, Mary Camp- 
BELL, a young girl captured in Pennsylvania, lived 
on this river, most of the time near the foot of tlie 
falls, at the forks below Akron. 

After the British took possession in 1760, French 
and English traders continued together, to traffic 



132 JOSEPH BU SIIATTAK. 

with the Indians on the waters of hike Erie. No 
doubt a post was kept up, at some point or points 
on the river during a large part of the eighteentli 
century, Ijut such estal;)lishments are so slight and 
temporary, that they are seldom noticed in history. 
A trading house is a very transient affair. A small 
log cabin covered with bark, constituted all of what 
is designated as an establishment. If the Indian 
customers remove, the trader follows them; aban- 
dons his cabin, and constructs another at a more 
convenient place. Within a year the deserted hut 
is burned to the ground, and all that remains is a 
vacancy of an acre or two in the forest, covered with 
grass, weeds, briers and bushes. 

In 1786 a lively trade in furs is known to have 
been carried on here. Of the energetic half civilized 
men, who for so many generations carried on this 
business, we know personally nothing; exee23t in 
regard to Joseph Du Siiattar and some of his com- 
panions. Mr. Ebenezer Merry, of Milan, Huron 
County, Ohio, in 1842 had a conversation with 
Judge S. A. Abbey, in which he stated that he had 
known Du Shattar. He had from a youth been in 
the employ of the North- West Fur Company, along 
this lake. The mouth of the Cuyahoga and San- 
dusky, were principal jioints. About 1790 he 
married Mary Pornay, at Detroit, and commenced 
trading on his own account. He had a ])ost nine 
miles up the river, which is probably the one whose 



HIS TRADIN(i HOUSE IN EKOOKLYN. 138 

remains have l)eeii observed in Brooklyn, opposite 
Newljurg. 

Here his second chikl was l)oni in 175»4. John 
Baptiste Flemming and Joseph Burrall were w^ith 
him a part of tlie time. While he was at Sandusky 
one of his voyao-eurs, Ijv the name of Beaulieau 
appropriated the wife of an Indian. This proceeding, 
and the continued presence of fire-water gave rise to 
frequent quarrels. Their establishment at Sandusky 
was attacked 1)y the Indians, in order to rescue 
Beaulieau's squaw, and many goods were seized. 
The remainder were saved by a compromise effected 
with rum. 

On the Cuyahoga, a fight occurred with the 
Indians in reference to a rifle. The Indians attacked 
them at another time, intending to capture their 
spirits, to obtain which they will risk whatever they 
possess. Some of the savages were killed and the 
remainder retreated. A trader was killed on the 
lake shore about ten miles below Grand river. Du 
SiiATTAR was living in 1812, and assisted in captur- 
ing John O'Mic and Semo, on Locust Point, the 
murderers of Michael Gibbs and Daniel Bfell at 
Pipe creek, near Sandusky. 



THE MORAVIANS IN CUYAHOGA COUNTY, 

1786-1787. 



Those ^vlio escaped alive from tlie slaiigliter of 
the Pennsylvaniaiis, under Col. Willia^mson, located 
themselves around Sandusky. But although they 
were here among their kindred, the Delawares, they 
were not in a place of safety. The Indians threat- 
ened and annoyed them, until at last they appealed 
to Col. Depuyster, the British commandant at De- 
troit. He treated the missionaries and their converts 
with humanity. This gentleman made great efforts 
to soften the ill will of their savage enemies. The 
praying Indians remained near Detroit during four 
years. They built a village on the Huron river of 
Michigan, which was called New Gnadenhutten. In 
May, 1786, they determined to plant a "settlement" 
on the Cuyahoga river, within the limits of this 
county. The officer in command at Detroit procured 
two small vessels, the Beaver and the Mackinaw, to 
bring them, their provisions and other luggage to 



18B A DISTRESSING JOURNEY. 

this pluce. They left New Giiadenliutten because 
the Chippewas were dissatisfied at seeing them on 
the Huron. With their usual l)ad luck, after they 
were near enough to have a view of the mouth of 
the Cuyahoga, a violent storm drove them back to 
the islands opposite Sandusky. It was now one 
month since they had eml)arked at Detroit, and they 
were not more than half way to their destination. 
Tavo of the missionaries, Young:vian and Senseman, 
had left New Gnadenhutten in May, 1785, so that 
the responsibility of directing their affairs remained 
with Zeisrerger and IIeckeavelder. 

The North -Western Fur Company, to whom the 
vessels l^elonged, could spare them no longer, and 
sent orders for the Beaver to I'eturn. It was l)arely 
possible to crowd the Aveak, the sick and the young, 
with the heavy luggage into the Mackinaw. The 
others were landed in the woods on the shore oj)- 
j^osite Sandusky bay. From thence they stra ggled 
along, crossing the l)ay in a very destitute condition. 
Those who ^vere healthy and strong, whether men 
or women, took the great trail along the Lake shore 
on foot, led on by their brother Zeisberger. For 
those who could not travel by land, canoes w^ere 
built, and Brother Heckewelder embarked wdth 
them on the 7th of June. Both parties reached the 
Cuyahoga on the same day. The schooner Macki- 
naw had also been here, and had landed their 
T^lankets, mats and other property, including some 



TIIEY KEACir CUYAHOGA, 137 

provisions. Congress had ordered five hundred 
Inishels of corn for tlieir supj)ort, but it never came. 
A firm by the name of Duncan, Wilson & Co., of 
Pittsl)urgh, were engaged in furnishing supj^lies to 
the Indians of Lake Erie. They had flour in store 
on the Avest side of the river, and had the liberality 
to relieve the immediate w^ants of this distressed 
company. They immediately proceeded wy) the 
river. The site of their mission was on the east 
Ijank of the Cuyahoga, a short distance below the 
mouth of Tinker's creek, to which they gave the 
name of Pilgerruh, or the "Pilgrim's Rest." Near 
it there had been a village of Ottawas, where some 
ground had been cleared. This they planted with 
corn. On the 13th of August they celebrated the 
Lord's supper. In the month of October their vil- 
lage Avas so far completed, as to furnish comfortable 
lodging for the coming winter. Mr. Heckeweldee 
then left the community, whose numbers at this 
time I cannot ascertain, and started for the old 
station at Bethlehem, Pa. A brother by the name 
of W31. Edwaeds, had arrived at the Pilgrim's Rest, 
who remained with Zeisbeegee durins: the winter. 

Their chapel was completed and consecrated on 
the 10th of November. It was never their design to 
remain permanently at Pilgerruh. 

Their rich lands in the more genial valley of the 
Muskingum, were ever present to their minds as 
their future home. But they were not destined to 
10 



138 PILGERKUII. 

see those pleasant iields, to drink the sweet waters 
of the spring at Sehoenljrunn, or to weep over the 
bones of their shinghtered companions; until after 
more trials, and after painful and distant wander- 
ings. 

The majority of the Delawares were still their 
enemies. At Sandusky they had friends enough, 
however, to keep them advised of the designs of 
their pagan brethren. A Delaware chief sent them 
word, privately, that they would be wise not to go 
to the Muskingum. 

General Butler, who -was the Indian agent at 
Pittsburgh, also advised them to remain at Pilger. 
ruh. Captain Pipe, a noted chief of the Delawares, 
desired them to come and settle at the mouth of the 
Huron river, a place which was known by the name 
of " Petquotting." 

One of the Moravian writers and missionaries, by 
the name of Loskiel, speaking of the dilemma they 
were now in, remarks that the " missionaiies were 
not concerned as to their own safety. If that alone 
had been the point in question, they would not have 
hesitated a moment to return to the Muskingum. 
But they dare not 1)ring the congregation committed 
to their care, into so dreadful and dangerous a situa- 
tion." 

They resolved to abandon the project of a return, 
and after celebrating Lent and Easter at Pilgerruh 
in the spring of 1787, they prepared to remove to 



TIIEY ARE NOT AT REST. 181) 

the inoiitli of Black river. Their last service on the 
banks of the Cuyahoga, is said to have been an occa- 
sion of deep religious interest. Their liearts were 
full of devotion and of gratitude, notwithstanding 
the dangers by which they were surrounded. 

On the loth of April, the last prayer was heard in 
their chapel at the " Pilgrim's Eest," which was no 
sooner concluded than they set forward. 

One part descended the river in canoes, and coast- 
ing westward, reached the mouth of Black river. 
Another party proceeded on foot to the same place, 
with which they were well pleased, and had hopes 
that the unconverted Indians would suffer them to 
remain in peace. 

They had enjoyed this expectation only three 
days, when a j)eremptory message came to them from 
the principal chiefs of the Delawares, to proceed 
forthwith to Sandusky. 

This band of simple, patient and harrassed chil- 
dren of the woods, decided at once to obey, looking 
with confidence to heaven for protection. 

The praying Indians of Ohio, whom the United 
T)rethren of Moravia had induced to separate from 
their savage neighbors, had the misfortune to be 
suspected by all parties. Those Americans who 
constituted the frontier men of the West, living at 
the verge of the settlements in Kentucky, Virginia 
and Pennsylvania, regarded the Moravians as secret- 
ly leagued with the French, and after the Revolution, 



140 ri:i\ji orriNt:. 

\vitli tlio Kimlish. This was tlio oauso ot' tlu' massa- 
cTo on tlio ^luskiiiguin. in ^laivli ITS'J. On tlu' 
otluT si(K\ tho luu'tli-wostvni tril>os ot" liuUans.in- 
olmliiiL:: tlioso ot' (^liio, wlio uoiv in loaixno Avitli 
I ho British, ivu-ai'iUnl tlio playing:,- Indians as no 
lu'ttei' than Whites. It \vas tliis t'eeling tliat lod tlu> 
IV'hnvai'os, a tribe to \vlu>ni many ot' Zkisheuueu's 
l>anJ lu'UnigiHl, to keep a strict watch over thoni. 
They stood in constant tlrcad ot" the chiefs ot' their 
own tribe. Tliev were at'raid to return to tlie ^lus- 
kinguni. because it displeased the Pelawares and 
other nations, and tluis livcil in daily expectation ot' 
persecutions. It was not an unexjHvted event, there- 
fore, wlien they were ordered aAvay fri>ni Black river, 
after they liad left the Cuyahoga. Only three days 
were they j^erniitted to remain there, supplying- 
themselves Avith tish. Avliich they speared in the 
river, bv torch light. They then felt compelled to 
enter their canoes and remo\ e to Petquottiug, at the 
mouth of the Huron river. As they passed along 
near the shore, vegetation began to show the intiu- 
ence of spring. The buds upon the trees of this 
dense forest, Avere expanding into miniature leaves; 
urass, tlowers and rank herbage were springing u}) 
under the shade of their branches. Hut the mind 
of these Avanderei-s, was in sad contrast with the j^eace 
and beauty of the scene. They were full of ajipre- 
hension. The message of the l^elawares was couched 
in dominant and ani2:rv terms. There an ere with them 



DIMVKN FIIOM IMOTC^ro'l'TINC, 111 

two y(>imj4" iiicii, l»y ilic iiaiiii^ of Miciiaki. ^'(>(|^'(; 
and Joiiisr Wky(;ani), vainly ('iidcaAoriiii!; to Huppoi'l 
tlioir timid souls, as they entered tlie Huron rivci-, 
nnd tied tlieir eanocs to tlie slioi'e at ]\'t([uottin^-, 
Tliis nuist have ])eeii al)()ut tlie first of May, 17^7, 
the uiessage of the Delawares ha\in<i,- ])een delivci'cd 
on the 27tli of April. Hy the 1 1 th of May, they liad 
erected liuts, giving to their new residence tin; name 
of New Salem. On the first of June, they had Iniilt 
a chapel, and celebrated the Lord's sup])er in it. In 
the winter of 1780-1)0, a i)ow(U-ful league was formed 
among the north-western Indians against the Uni- 
ted States. The Moravians were required to join it, 
and as they were suspected by their Pagan brcithren, 
it was determined at their council fire, that they 
should 1)0 removed to the interior, near Fort Wayne, 
which was then called Kcyecpiash. In their distress 
they again a2)plied to the commaiuhuit at Detroit, 
who Ijeing touched by tlu^ir demeanor and their 
helplessness, again gave them relief lie sent a ves- 
sel to the mouth of the Huron river, in A])ril, 17*.H>, 
and selecting a place on the river Thames in Canada, 
trans])orted them thither. 

To this settlement they gave the nanu^ of Fair- 
field, where they remained in safety during tlu^ In- 
dian wars imder IImimau, St. Claiu and Wavnio, 
In the year 1797, when their revcin^nd fatlun', Ziois- 
nEROEii, had attained the age of seventy-sevcMi years, 
tlnnr lands on the Muskingum w(!re surveyed, and 



Ul* they return to i^rUSKrNGTTjM. 

patented to tliem by tlie United States, It seemed 
tliat all ol)stacles were now removed, to tlieir return 
to tlieir desired home in Ohio. A part of the Land 
returned there in the spring of 1798. They found, 
after an absence of sixteen years, nothing but the 
ruins of tlieir houses, weedy and deserted fields, and 
the graves of their kindred. Some remained at 
Fairfield, in Canada. In lSO-1, a part of them re- 
turned to New Salem, on the Huron river. On the 
Muskingum, they rebuilt the villages of Gnaden- 
hutten, Salem and Schoenbrunn, and established a 
new settlement, under the name of Goshen. The 
faithful old Zeisbekoer died in the year 1808, but 
at this time his grave cannot be identified. As 
the country adjacent l)ecame more populous Avith 
whites, the converted Indians, and probably their 
white neighbors, thought it l)est for them to aband- 
on their settlements. The United States purchased 
their lands and improvements on the -Ith of August, 
1823, and they returned to Canada, where some of 
them still survive. The grave yard at Goshen was 
reserved from sale, also ten acres around the diiirch 
at Beersheba, together with the parsonage, church 
lot and grave yard, at Gnadenhutten. Thus termin- 
ated the Moravian settlements in Ohio, after a j)Ye- J 
carious and painful existence of sixty years. ™ 

In the month of April, 1788, Avhile Zeisberger 
and his congregation were at Petquotting, the first 
settlement of whites w^as founded in Ohio, at the 



WtEtM stTCcEssoiis m oitro. 148 

inoiitli of the Muskingum, As these emigrants 
Avere from tlie land of churches, they considered 
religious services to be an essential part of the ue\v 
colony. They l)rouglit with them the Rev. David 
Breck, and afterwards the Rev. Daniel Story, who, 
under the Rev. Manasseii Cutler, formed a church 
at Marietta. In the fall of the same year, a settle- 
ment was made at Columbia, near Cincinnati, and 
a Baptist church was estaldished there in 1700, un- 
der the charge of the Rev. Daniel Gano. These 
congregations worshiped God, as the Pilgrims had 
done before them, with arms in their hands, sur- 
rounded l)y savages, whose minds were filled with 
wonder and revenge. During the second year of 
the settlement at Cleveland, (1797,) the Rev. Seth 
Hart held the position of General Agent and Chaj^- 
lain, for the Connecticut Land Company on the 
Reserve. He has left no evidence of his spiritual 
efforts, and according to tradition, he was not a xevj 
zealous laborer in the vineyard of Christ. In this 
part of Ohio, the first regular dispensation of gospel 
truth occurred in Youngstown, in September, 1709, 
under the Rev. William Wick, of the Presbyterian 
persuasion. A church was organized there the next 
year, during the last months of which the Rev. Jos. 
Badger arrived as a missionary from Connecticut, 
to the settlements on the Western Reserve. From 
this period, being the commencement of the present 
century, the history of Wick, Badger, Robbins, and 



144 PIONEEi: IMISSIONAKIES IN OHIO. 

tlie other pioneer ministers wlio i)lanted Cliristiaiiity 
tlii'oiigliout tlie lleserve, is A\'itliin the reach of all. 

As the labors, privations, and even names of these 
early teachers are forg'otten, I append a list of them 
here : 

I)a(e of 

arrival. Name. Flrd station. Ptrsuaslov. 

1761. Frederick Post, near Bolivar, Moravian. 

17(51. John Heckewelder, do. do. 

1768. David Zeisberger, Venango Co., Pa. do. 

1768. John Etwein, Forks of Beaver Kiver, do. 

1772. Heckewelder and 

Zeisberger, on the Muskingum, do. 

1773. David Jones, on the Scioto, Baptist. 
1775. John Jacob Yoiingman, 

on the Muskingum, Moravian. 

1775. KoTHE, do. do. 

Number of members, 369. 

1777. Wm. Edwards, on the Muskingum, IMoravian. 

1777. John Jacob Sciimick, do. do. 
1780. Sarah Ohneburg, afterwards Mrs. Heckewelder, 

on the IMuskingum, Moravian. 

1780. Michael Young, do. do. 

1780. Siiebosh, do. do. 

1780. Sensemann, do. do. 

1782. John Martin, do, do. 

1787. John Weygand, on the Cuyahoga. do. 

1788. Daniel Breck, Marietta, Congregational. 
1788. Daniel Story, do. do. 
1788. Daniel Gang, near Cincinnati, Baptist. 

1799. William Wick, Youngstown, Presbyterian. 

1800. Joseph Badger, Western lleserve. Congregational. 

1801. E. F. Chapin, do. do. 
1803. Thomas Kobbins, do. do. 



ORIGIN OF TITLE. 



To those outside of the legal profession, nothing 
is more uninteresting than discussions upon titles. 
But the suT)ject is too important to l)e omitted. In 
regard to the permanent prosperity of a countiy, a 
good system of land titles, is of no less consequence 
than a good government. 

On the Western Reserve, although the system is 
simple, the history of its origin is somewhat compli- 
cated. A thorough exposition would of itself occupy 
a small volume. I can only present the outlines. 

England claimed the North American continent 
hy discovery, in virtue of the voyages of John and 
Sebastian Cabot, along its eastern coast. The Pope 
assumed to grant to Spain, a large part of America, 
but the other powers, paid very little attention to 
the title of his Holiness ; as it was wholly without 
foundation. By the practice of civilized nations, 
which constitutes the law of nations ; discovery and 
possession, make up the title to unoccupied countries. 
In determining the limits of possession under tlie 



146 Title by possessioisI. 

law of nations, constructive occupation was allowed, 
wliereby the party wlio held the mouth of a river 
took the country which is drained by it. 

Thus Spain, by the explorations of De Narvaez, 
and De Soto, on the Gulf of Mexico ; l)ecanie pos- 
sessed of the country of the Apalachicola, Mobile, 
Peai'l, and Mississippi rivers, early in the 1 (>th cen- 
tury. 

She soon lost a large part of this territory, l)y the 
failure of continuous possession, and the French 
taking advantage of her neglect, extended their oc- 
cupation over it. Coming in by way of the St. Law- 
rence in 1535, and fixing themselves there in IGO.S, 
they pushed forward in every direction. 

In 1600 they reached the west end of Lake 
Superior; in 1678 they were on the upper Mississip- 
pi, and on the 7tli of April, 1682, La Salle arrived 
at its mouth. 

The English had frerpiently tried to dislodge 
them, l)y negotiation and l)y force, l)ut without suc- 
cess. By the year 1719, French military posts had 
entirely surrounded the English colonies. They 
were continually contracting the inner cordon of their 
forts, until they were brought in immediate contact, 
with the frontier positions of the British Crown. 
The French then held the Bay of Funday, Fort 
Cohasset on the Connecticut, and Crown Point on 
Lake Champlain. 

They held Oswego, Niagara, Fort Erie, opposite 



i'lllJKClt AND ENGLISH CLALAtS. l47 

Buftnlo, Presque Isle (Erie, Pa.), the Allegheny and 
Ohio rivers. This dangerous proximity brought on 
the old French war of 1754. Before appealing to 
arms, the French offered a l)oundary, commencing 
on the Gulf of Mexico, at the mouth of the 
Apalachicola, thence uj) the same to its source. 
From its head waters the dividing line between the 
English and French colonies, was to follow the crest 
of the Allegheny mountains ; to the sources of the 
Susquehanna ; and thence to Crown Point, and the 
Bay of Funday. 

As a counter proposition, the English offered to 
accept the line of the Allegheny mountains, as far 
as the eastern l:)ranches of the Ohio; diverging 
thence to their junction at Pittsburg ; up the Alle- 
gheny river, and French creek to Prescpie Isle, on 
lake Erie ; and thence along the shore, through lake 
Ontario, the outlet of lake Cliamplain, and the sources 
of the Atlantic rivers. This being refused, the war 
was begun; which in 17G0, ended in the conquest by 
the English, of all the French possessions, east of 
the Mississippi, except the island of Orleans. 

With the Indians, the French policy was quite 
different fi'om that of the English, and the Ameri- 
cans. The French did not ask for territory, except 
as tenants of so much as might be necessary for tem- 
porary cultivation, around their forts. Their treaties 
were made to secure peace and traffic. 

The French have little taste for colonizing new 



148 CLAIMS OF THE COLONIES. 

countries, for tlie purpose of permanent cultivation. 
But whatever riglits tlie Frencli had in the Indian 
country, became English ; ])y conquest, secured hy 
the treaty of February 18, 1763 ; and as the Indians 
were their allies, they stood in the position of a con- 
quered people. 

Between the colonies and the crown, there arose 
at once the question of title, to the lands beyond the 
Alleghenies ; included in all the colonial charters. 

The Sovereigns of England not only made grants 
in this country of immense extent, for very trilling 
considerations, covering many times over the same 
territory; but they claimed the power to amend, 
alter, and annul previous patents, a power which 
was frequently exercised. 

Virginia at first included a large part of North 
America : from latitude thirty-four to latitude forty- 
eight north, thence west and north-west to the Great 
South Sea ; which was at that time a geographical 
myth. While the Pilgrim fathers were on the sea, 
in search of a new home; where they could l)e 
exempt from religious persecution ; James the First, 
king of England, on the od of November, 1630, 
divided Old Virginia ; constituting a northern and a 
southern colony ; under the names of the " London " 
and " Plymouth " companies. The charter of the 
Plymouth com2:)any, is tediously verbose, granting 
to forty f[ivorites of the crown, mostly nobles ; the 
country l^etween latitude 40 and 48° north, stretch- 



LONPON AND TFAiNIOUTn COlSlPAlSriES. 141) 

iiig iiidetinitely, to the niytliical South Sea, on tlie 
Avest. This territory was forever to l^e called " New 
Enghind." It covered the Dutch settlement on 
Hudson river, and suhsequent grants to tlie Duke of 
York, now constituting tlie State of New York ; 
most of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Canada and the north- 
western States. 

The " Council of Plymouth " was made a corpo- 
ration, with most extensive political and personal 
privileges; on condition of rendering to the king, 
one-fourth part of all the gold and silver that might 
he discovered. They had exclusive rights of trade, 
free of duty, except as to imports to England. It 
was made a heinous crime to speak evil of "New 
England" or the corporators. The object of the 
grants are set forth in these words: "The princi^^al 
eftect which we can desire or expect of this action is 
the conversion or reduction of the people in those 
parts to the true worship of God and christian reli- 
gion." 

In 1630, the Council of Plymouth, sitting in the 
county of Devon, England, granted to Pobekt, Earl 
of Warwick, its President ; " All that part of New 
England, in America, which lies and extends itself 
from a river there called Narragansett river, the 
space of forty leagues upon a straight line near the 
sea shore, towards south-west, west and by south, or 
west, as the coast lieth, towards Virginia, account- 
ing three English miles to the league, all and singu- 



150 DEED TO EARL WAEWICK. 

lar, the lands and liereditanients whatsoever, lying 
and being within the bonnds aforesaid, north and 
south in latitude and breadth, and in length and 
lono-itude, and within all the breadth aforesaid 
throughout all the main lands there, from the west- 
ern ocean to the South Seas." What lands were 
meant by this descri^^tion, or what were not included 
in it, constituted the legal puzzle of a century and a 
half. 

On the 19th of March, 1G31, Earl Kobert con- 
veyed the same premises " more or less," to Viscount 
Say and Seal Brook, and his associates, which is 
called the " Patent of Connecticut." It is under this 
patent she claimed a large part of Pennsylvania 
and Ohio, and from which her claim to the Western 
Reserve is derived. The limits of Connecticut 
north and south were finally determined to be the 
forty-first parallel, and the parallel of forty-two 
desfrees and two minutes north. As doubts were 
entertained of the validity of Warwick's patent, to 
found a political government; and the colony of 
Massachusetts encroached upon that of Connecticut, 
recourse was had to King Charles the Second, Avho 
granted a most ample charter on the 23d of April, 
1G62, which also fixed the northern boundary. 

Lord Say and Seal was still living, and a fast 
friend of the Puritans. He was also in power at 
court, and in favor with Charles Second. John 
WiNTHROP the Governor, who was sent to England 



CHARTER OF CONNECTICUT. 151 

to procure this charter, had in liis possession a riiii^- ; 
which once belonged to Charles the First. Tins 
was presented to the King, delighting his royal 
heart exceedingly. Whatever they desired was put 
into the charter, which served as a constitution, until 
after the United States became independent of 
Great Britain. — [TruinhuWs History of Connecticut^ 

The charter of the " London Company," covering* 
a large part of North America, had been annulled 
by judicial process in 1624. The subsequent grant 
to the Duke of York, extended across the St. Law- 
rence indefinitely to the north-west. Connecticut 
and Massachusetts, under the charter of the Plym- 
outh Company, reached to the Great South Sea. 

After the Peace of Paris, and before the revolu- 
tion, the Lidians made grants of territory to Great 
Britain, eml)racing parts of New York, Connecticut, 
Pennsylvania and Virginia, as these colonies were 
then described. They had much reason to claim, 
that having borne much of the exj)ense, and fur- 
nished a large part of the soldiers, to carry on the 
war with the French and Indians, the lands thus 
wrested from their enemies, should be confirmed to 
them. Whether under the la^v of nations, the Kinir 
had a right to grant them territory, which lay 
beyond the rivers emptying into the Atlantic, he 
now held this disputed country Ijy a good title, and 
they insisted that he was bound to make good his 
ancient promises. The Crown took a difterent view 



152 CESSIONS 15 Y THE INDIANS. 

Ill the fiill of 17(33, all the colonists were excluded 
from lauds beyoud the mouutaius, by royal procla- 
matiou. 

Before the Freuch war, the " Ohio Land Com- 
pany" had been formed, with extensive grants in 
Ohio and West Virginia. The colony of Virginia 
had issued bounty land warrants, to her soldiers 
who fought against the French. As she claimed, 
under the almost limitless charter of the London 
Company, the holders of these warrants had a 
roving commission, to plant themselves at will in 
the western country. These bold soldiers paid little 
heed to the King's proclamation, or to the savages, 
who protested fiercely against their intrusions. 
Even Washington came to the Great Kenhawa 
and located his warrants. Projects for land compa- 
nies and settlements, in the valley of the Ohio, were 
being vigorously prosecuted, when the war of the 
revolution l^roke out. When it closed, all the 
rights which the English government possessed, 
either from French or Indian conquest, were trans- 
ferred by the same right of the conqueror, and l)y 
treaty, to the United States. 

Immediately after the peace of 1783, the Amer- 
ican Congress took measures to obtain cessions of 
Indian lands. Their commissioners, beginning at 
Fort Stanwix in 1784, afterwards at Fort Mcintosh, 
Fort Harmar, and other points on the Ohio, in 
1785-6, concluded what are called treaties, ^vith the 
Six Nations and many western tribes. 



TITLE BY CONQUE.ST. 153 

In these negotiations, although matters had the 
appearance of l)argain and sale, a certain amount of 
goods and money, for a given quantity of land, the 
terms were those of a con(pieror, dictating to the 
vanquished. Tlie Indians had fought with the 
British, against us, as they had witli the French, 
against the Englisli. Victory placed them again in 
the position of a conquered people. These treaties 
were not those of parties, equal under the law of 
nations, l)ut were articles of settlement at the con- 
clusion of a war. The Indians always regarded 
them as stipulations made under duress, to he }ie])t 
no longer than they were ohliged to do so hy force. 

They had learned under British rule, that the gov- 
ernment woidd permit no sales by them to otlier 
parties. They had been guarantied ])y the British 
crown, a permanent lioine, west of the Alleghenies ; 
into which the white men had l)een forbidden to 
enter. This was done in good faith hj the Britisli 
authorities, l)ut tlie issue of war had abrogated her 
authority ; a war to which the Indians were parties. 

The jDossession of the soil is evidently due to those 
who will cultivate it. The eartli was not intended 
as a mere hunting ground for the savage. By his 
mode of life, he requires about six miles square 
to support a family. He draws his subsistence from 
the spontaneous production of nature, always 
exhausting and never adding any thing to her 
resources. 

11 



154 OLD DIFFICULTIES EEYR'ED. 

Of course tlie eartli cannot in tliis way fulfil its 
destiny, and snp2:)ort tlie increasing millions that are 
incessantly appearing upon it. In 173G all the sav- 
ages, witli wliicli the Jesuit Missionaries were 
accpiainted, on the waters of the lakes and of the 
Mississippi, did not exceed 80,000. Within the 
limits of Ohio, there were probably more Indians 
about the time of the Revolution, than ever before. 
By Capt. HuTciiiNs' estimate, made in 1787, there 
were not of them to exceed 7,000 souls. The whole 
number, would not have made a city of the second 
class, as fixed by our statutes. 

The old difficulty between the colonies and the 
crown, revived immediately after the revolution, 
between the same parties as States, and the confed- 
eration of the United States of America. All the 
old (questions of boundary, came wp anew. New 
York, at an early day, consented to a liberal curtail- 
ment of her claims. The pressure of the war, the 
wisdom, forbearance and patriotism of those times, 
and the financial difficulties which oppressed the 
nation, all conspired to make the discussion tem- 
perate, and finally secured a happy result. Con- 
arress held the Indian c-rants. Some States had no 
indefinite western boundary, on which to found a 
claim. These had, like the others, sent their citizens 
into the field, and supported them there. Like the 
colonies in the French war, tliey had acquii'ed a 
moral right to a portion of the proceeds of the 



CONFLICTING CLAIMS. 15.") 

conquest. The discussion continued from tlie form- 
ation of tlie confederation, until tlie year 1800, 
l)efore eveiytliing connected Avitli tlie western lands 
was adjusted. 

Connecticut, having heen ousted of her preten- 
sions in Pennsylvania, was tenacious of her claims to 
the west of that State. By her deed of September 
14, 1786, she limited herself to a tract, about as 
large as Old Connecticut, in the north-eastern part 
of Ohio, commonly called the "Western Reserve." 
To this as to all other western lands, the title was 
eventually made sure by compromise; the United 
States refusing to consider the comparative value of 
the conflictino; claims of the States. 

In addition to the relinquishment of 178G, a 
farther compact was made l)etween the State and the 
Government, by which Connecticut, in 1800, relin- 
rpiished to the United States, all claim of political 
jurisdiction, and the latter confirmed to her the title 
to the soil. 

That personal enterprise which is engendered by 
wars, expends itself in the United States, upon the 
new territories. The provincial soldiers of the old 
French war, and of the campaign under Col. Bouquet, 
17G4, were the men who became the pioneers on the 
waters of the Ohio. Very soon after the Revolu- 
tion, our immediate ancestors began to look west- 
ward. Their courage did not allow them to fear 
their red enemies. Wars are not ^vholly without 



150 THE SOLDIER PIONEERS. 

compeusatioii. It required precisely sucli characters, 
as the impoverished soldiers of the Revolution, to 
conquer the western wilds. Men who had never 
been toughened by the exposures and dangers of the 
camp, would not relish such undertakings. Perhaps 
many of these, would not have sought after fortune 
in such remote regions, had not the war left them 
with nothing l>ut their physical strength, ambition 
and courage. The rich wilderness Avhich they had 
seen, had been conquered by their exertions. It was 
therefore in accordance with a fearless spirit, coupled 
with necessity ; that they entered upon the danger- 
ous task of subduino; the western wilderness. 

In 1788 the settlement of Ohio was commenced, 
by an association of New England soldiers. During 
the next year a purchase of three millions of acres, 
was made in western New York, through the agency 
of Benjamin Goriiam and Oliver Phelps; embracing 
the rich lands which border u23on Seneca and Canan- 
daigua lakes. 

In Ohio the most accessible portion lies adjacent 
to the Ohio river, where the first lodgments were 
made, at Marietta and Cincinnati. 

For thirty years, rude highways had been in exist- 
ence over the ridges of the Allegheny mountains, 
made by Braddock and Forbes, to the forks of the 
Ohio, at Pittsburg. From thence, in boats, they 
could float onward with the stream. The settle- 
ments, following the impulse of the old French war, 



ROUTES TO THE WEST. 157 

had passed the crests of those mountains, and already 
occupied some of the valleys of the streams. 

The northern route to Ohio was more difficult. 
The entire breadth of the State of New York must 
be penetrated, mostly by a land route, through a 
country not broken by mountains, but by marshes, 
lakes and streams, more impracticable than moun- 
tains. It required a few years more time, for them 
to reach the northern borders of this State. 

Settlers had forced their way as far west as 
Canandaigua. A horse trail had been opened along 
the old Indian trail to lake Erie, at Buifalo, when 
the project of occupying this portion of the State 
was set on foot. Oliver Phelps, of Connecticut, 
the partner of Gorham, of Massachusetts, in the New 
York purchase, was disposed to strike still deeper 
into the western country. 

On the 14th of September, 1786, the State of Con- 
necticut made a deed of cession, whereby she released 
to the United States ; all right, title, interest juris- 
diction and claim, which she had north of the forty- 
first parallel, and west of a meridian to be run at a 
distance of one hundred and twenty miles, west of 
the west line of the State of Pennsylvania ; extend- 
ing nortli to the parallel of forty-two degrees and 
two minutes. 

The State of Connecticut, made no disposition of 
the territory, between the Pennsylvania line and the 
meridian referred to, lying between forty -two 



158 CONFLICT OF JURISDICTION. 

degrees two minutes, and forty-one degrees. It was 
thus reserved to lierself, from wliicli it received the 
title of the " Connecticut Western Reserve." All the 
States, having claims to tlie territory north-west of 
the (^liio ; having relinquislied their claims, except 
to the Reserve; the United States proceeded to 
establish a government over it, and ])assed tlie 
famous ''Ordinance of 1787." 

As the State of Connecticut, liad never reliiicpiished 
lier ehiim to the Western Reserve, she considered 
such an extension of jurisdiction, to l)e in violation 
of her rights. Slie very soon after, j^rovided for the 
sale of her reserved lands in this region. 

As the claims of tlie several States, to Avestern 
lands under their conflicting grants, and the mode 
of settlement are fnlly set forth in the Land Laws 
of tlie United States; I notice them only inciden- 
tally here. 

Li October, 1780, that State had passed a resolu- 
tion, authorizing a committee of three persons, to 
sell that part, which lies east of the Cuyahoga river 
and the old portage path ; by townships of six miles 
square. The price was limited to three shillings 
currency per acre, which is equal to fifty cents in 
Federal money. Six ranges of townships were to be 
surveyed, lying next to the Pennsylvania line ; to be 
numbered from lake Erie southward, and not less 
than twenty-seven dollars in specie, was to be paid 
per township to defray the expenses of survey. Five 



SALT SPltma TRACT. 159 

hundred acres of land in each township, was reserved 
for the sup2^ort of tlie gospel ministry; and hve 
hundred acres for the support of schools. 

Tlie first minister who settled in a township, was 
entitled to two hundred and forty acres. Until a 
republican government should be established, the 
general Assembly, undertook to provide for the pres- 
ervation of peace and good order among the settlers. 

At their session in May 1787, some alterations 
were made, in the manner of surveying and mmil^er- 
ing the townships, and the mode of making convey- 
ances. 

No attempt was made to execute the surveys. 
A sale was made however, to General Samuel H. 
Parsons, of Middletowu, of a tract embracing twen- 
ty-four thousand acres, afterwards known as tlie 
"Salt Spring Tract," in Trumbull county. This 
patent was executed by the Governor and Secretary, 
February 10, 1788. [Hon. T. D. Webb.] It is 
described l^y ranges and townships, as though the 
lines had been run and marked upon the ground. 
General Parsons had explored the country, and 
found the location of the well known Salt Sj)ring, 
near the Mahoning river, which was considered very 
valuable. This spring is laid down by Evans, on 
his map of 1755, The Pennsylvanians had recourse 
to it dmTug the revolution, and cabins had been 
erected there. In 1785, Col. Brodiiead, com- 
manding the troops at Fort Pitt, had orders to 



10() GENEKAL S. II. PARSONS. 

dispossess them, and did so. Tlie Indians soon 
burned tlie cabins tliey had erected. General Par- 
sons, Avas appointed one of the Judges in the north- 
western Territory, but was drowned in the fall of 
1788, at the falls of Beaver river. Considerable 
quantities of salt had been made by Indians and 
traders before the settlement, and for a number of 
years after, its manufacture was continued by the 
pioneers. 

General Parsons Avas the only purchaser from 
the State, until the Connecticut Land Company Avas 
organized, giving him the choice of lands east of 
the Cuyahoga. The description in his patent is as 
follows : " Beginning at the north-east corner of the 
^rs^ toAvnship in the tJii/'d vauge; thence northerly, 
on the Avest line of the second range, to forty-one 
degrees and tAvelve minutes of north latitude ; thence 
Avest, three miles ; thence southerly, parallel to the 
Avest line of Pennsylvania, tAA^o miles and one half; 
thence Avest, tliree miles, to the Avest line of said 
third range; thence southerly, parallel to the Avest 
line of Pennsylvania, to the north line of the first 
toAvnship in the third range ; thence east to the 
first l)ouud." [Leonard Case.] 

Although no surveys Avere made. General Par- 
sons proceeded to inalve sales and deeds, of undi- 
vided portions, to A^arious parties. His patent Avas 
recorded in the office of the Secretary of State, at 
Hartford, but the United States having oi-ganized 



SALES BY PARSONS. 161 

tlie county of Wasliington, embracing this tract, it 
was again recorded at Marietta, as were many of the 
deeds made by him. Afterwards, when the con- 
flicting claims of the State and the federal govern- 
ment were harmonized, as doubts remained in 
regard to the validity of Washington county, north 
of the -list parallel, they were recorded again at 
Warren, in the county of Trumbull. No taxes were 
effectually imposed upon the inhal3itants of the 
Resei've, until after the organization of Trumlndl 
county. Before tliat time, the settlers were left in 
a state of nature, so ftir as civil government was 
concerned. They were once disturbed by the 
authority of the United States, at the time when 
they Avere supposed to be included in Jefferson 
County. 

Zenas Kimbekly made liis appearance in this 
region, to enquire into the matter of taxation. As 
they did not acknowledge the jurisdiction of the 
United States, he was beset hj ridicule and laugh- 
ter, until lie concluded to leave them. 

[T. D. Webb.] 

In May, 1792, the Legislature of Connecticut 
granted to those of her citizens, who had suffered 
by depredations of the British, during the revolu- 
tion, Jialf a million of acres, to be taken off tlie 
west end of the Reserve, exclusive of the Islands, 
As no one except Parsons had purchased lands 
under the resolutions of 1786-7, a new mode of 



162 NEW TERMS OF SALE. 

disposing of her western lands was adopted, in May 
1795. 

Numerous parties entered the field as purchasers. 
Under the last resolution, a coniniittee of eight citi- 
zens, representing each county in the State ; Avas 
empowered to sell, three millions of acres ; next west 
of the Pennsylvania line, at a price not less than one 
million of dollars l)eing a third of a dollar per 
acre. The names of the committee were 

John Tread well, James Wadswortii, 

Marvin Wait, William Ed]mond, 

Thomas Grosvenor, Aaron Austin, 

Elijah Hubbard, Sylvester Gilbert. 

Speculation in wild lands had already become 
epidemic in New England. Benjamin Goriiam and 
Oliver Phelps had sold their New York purchase 
to Robert Livingston, of Philadelphia, who trans- 
ferred it to a company in Holland, by which the 
tract was afterwards known as the " Holland Pur- 
chase." 

The committee, and the several adventurers, sj)ent 
the summer of 1795 in negotiations. General 
Wayne's successful movements, through the Indian 
country from the Ohio, to lake Erie, during the 
])revious year; had convinced the British and Indians 
that the United States intended to occupy Ohio, 
whoever might oppose. The purchasers, were, 
notwithstanding ; required to take all lisks of title 
and of possession. Another condition was imj)osed 



THE PURCHASERS. 163 

ii}H)ii the coiiimitti'o ; wliicli re(|uired tliem to dis- 
pose of tlie entire three million of acres, before 
concluding a sale of any part of it. 

John Livingston and others were in the field as 
competitors of the Connecticut men, Init were 
induced to accept for their share, the su2^posed sur- 
plus, a million or more of acres. 

On the 2(1 of Septeml)er, 1705, the bargain was 
concluded. A sufficient number of individuals had 
presented tliemselves, willing to take the entire tract 
at the sum of one million two hundred thousand 
dollars; whose names, and their respective propor- 
tions are here given : 

Joseph Howland and Daniel L, Coit, ,f30 4(51 

Klias Morgan, 51,402 

Caleb Atwater, 22,84G 

Daniel Holbrook, 8,750 

Joseph AVilliams, . 15,231 

WilhamLove, 10,500 

William Judd, 16,256 

Elisha Hyde and Uriah Tracey, 57,400 

James Johnston, 30 000 

Samuel Mather, Jr., 18,461 

Ephraim Kirby, Elijah Boardman and Uriel 

Holmes, Jr., 60,000 

Solomon Griswold, 10,000 

Oliver Phelps and Gideon Granger, Jr., 80,000 

William Hart, 30,462 

Henry Champion, 2d, 85,675 

Asher Miller, 34,000 

Eobert C. Johnson, 60,000 



164 CONVEYANCES. 

Epliraim Koot, 42,000 

Nehemiah Hubbard, Jr., 19,039 

Solomon Cowles, 10,000 

Oliver Phelps 168,185 

Asaliel Hathaway, 12,000 

John Caldwell and Peleg Sanford, 15,000 

Timothy Burr, 15,231 

Luther Loomis and Ebenezer King, Jr., 44,318 

William Lyman, John Stoddard and David King, _ 24,730 

Moses Cleaveland, 32,600 

Samuel P. Lord, 14,092 

Koger Newberry, Enoch Perkins and Jonathan 

Brace, 38,000 

Ephraim Starr, 17,415 

Sylvanus Griswold, 1,683 

Joseb Stocking and Joshua Stow, 11,423 

Titus Street, 22,846 

James Bull, Aaron Olmsted and John Wyles, 30,000 

Pierpoint Edwards, 60,000 

,^1,200,000 

The committee of eight, immediately made deeds 
to these purchasers, of as many twelve liiiiidred 
thousandths in common, of the entire tract, as tliey 
liad subscribed dollars on the above list. These 
deeds and the subsequent drafts were recorded in 
the office of the Secretary of State, at Hartford ; and 
afterwards transferred to the Kecorders office at 
Warren. They are very lengthy, reciting the sub- 
stance of the resolution, and the mode of sale to the 
grantees. It does not appear that any part of the 
consideration was paid in hand. [T. D. Webb.] 



CONNECTICUT LAND COMPANY. 



According to this record, tlie number of original 
parties was tliirty-iive, altliougli it is generally 
represented as thirty-six. There were this number 
of bonds given to the State hj them, for the above 
stated sums ; which were secured by personal secu- 
rity at first, and afterwards mortgages u^ion the land. 
The first purchasers, however, represented other per- 
sons who were also constituted members of the com- 
pany, fifty seven in number. 

The different grantees in the deeds from Connecti- 
cut, gave the Trustees a list of the persons whom 
they represented, and the Trustees issued a stock 
certificate to each, in accordance with the articles of 
the association. Some of those who had given their 
bonds failed ; and others persuaded the State to 
accept bonds and moi'tgages from them individually. 
They gave a bond to the Treasurer of State, and a 
mortgage of the lands which were aparted to them 
in severalty under the draft of 1798, east of the 
Cuyahoga. 

Tliey gave also another style of seciu'ity, called 



lG6 THE EXCESS COMPANY. 

tlie "Trust and l^eneiit mortgcages," covering their 
interests in common then undrawn. Tliese were so 
worded, that the Trustees of the Land Company, 
after draft, made another mortgage to the State, in 
which the original purchasers had the right of 
redemption. [Leonaed Case.] 

A partnership, or association, was immediately 
formed hy the purchasers ; who called themselves 
the "Connecticut Land Company"; all of whom 
joined in a deed of trust, to John Caldwell, Jona- 
than Brace, and John Morgan, covering the entire 
purchase. As special corporate powers were not 
given them by the Legislature, and doubts existed 
as to the validity of their political franchises ; this 
course was necessary for the convenient management 
of their business. The trust deed bears date Sep- 
tember 5, 1795, and with few exceptions, the deeds 
of the Trustees are the source of title, to lands on 
the Western Reserve. As late as 1836, all of the 
original Trustees were living, and joined in deeds of 
lands within this city. 

Oliver Phelps, John Livingston, and others, 
proposed to take the remainder, l^eing the " excess," 
lying between the three million, and the five hundred 
thousand acre tracts. This scheme finally took the 
form of what is called the "Excess Company," of 
whom Gen. Hull, afterwards conspicuous at Detroit, 
was the principal owner. Shares in this company 
were sought after with as much eagerness as those 



ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION. 167 

ill John Laws company of the Indies, Laving about 
tlie same basis of vahie. 

The State guaranteed nothing either as to title or 
(piantity. She only transferred all the rights she 
possessed, as well political as those of property un- 
der the patent of Earl Warwick, and the charter of 
CiiAKLEs the Second. So little was kno^vll at this 
time, of the respective powers of the States and the 
United States, under the Constitution of 1787, that 
many of the parties thought the Land Company had 
received political authority, and could found here a 
new State. They imagined themselves like William 
Penjst, to be j)i'oprietors, coupled wdth the rights of 
self government. 

Articles of association, fourteen in number, were 
signed by the proprietors, on the same day with the 
trust deed. These articles are very elaborate, pro- 
viding for the government of the comj^any, giving 
extensive powders to the directors, pointing out in 
detail the mode of survey, partition and sale ; author- 
izing transferable certificates of stock, and determ- 
ining the manner of proceeding at meetings of the 
company. These articles of agreement were so full 
and particular that, no changes were found necessary, 
in order to carry on and complete the business of 
the company. 

For the purjiose of voting and assessments, the 
concern was divided into four hundred sliares. Pro- 
vision was made, in case one-third of the interest 



1()8 FIRST DIRECTOliS. 

slioiild demand it, to set off to the applicants one- 
third of the property in a l>ody, l)ut no sncli de- 
niand was made. 

The affairs of the company were entrusted to the 
management of seven directors, and the gentlemen 
l)elow named were elected to form the first l)<>:u'(l : 

Oliver Phelps, of Snffield. 
Henry Champion, 2nd, of Colchester. 
Moses Cleaveland, of Canterlniry. 
Samuel W. Johnson. 

EpHP.AIM KlliBY. 

Samuel Mather, Junior, of Lynn. 
Roger Newberry, of West Windsor. 

The annual meetings of the company were to he 
lield in Hartford, in Octol)er, from whence New 
Connecticut was to T)e governed, as New England 
had l)een by the " Council of Plymouth" in England. 
It would be exceedingly interesting to reproduce the 
official transactions of the company, while it held the 
soil of the Western Reserve, from 171)5 to 1809, if 
the limits of this ])t)ok would admit. I can only 
touch upon their most prominent acts and })ro- 
ceediugs. 

Tliey determined to extinguish tlie Indian claims, 
and survey their possessions into townships, of fve 
7nil€S square, bounded by lines crossing each otlier 
at right angles, to be run north and south, east and 
west. Tlie proprietors were required to chd) to- 



THE AGENT AND SURVEYOllS. 160 

getlier and th'iiw by townships, as in a lottery ; after 
Avhicli tlie owners received a deed, and made their 
o^vn sub-divisions into lots. T^velve thousand nine 
hundred and three dollars and twenty-three cents of 
purchase money, represented a township in the first 
draft. To equalize the townshij)s, a committee was 
appointed to explore them. 

Moses Cleaveland, one of the directors, was 
made general agent, to conduct the surveys, 
Augustus Poetee, of Salisbury, who had been en- 
gaged in surveys for Goeham and Phelps, in the 
Holland purchase since 1789, was made principal 
surveyor. Setit Pease, of Suffield, was given the 
place of mathematician and surveyor. lie went to 
Philadelphia for instructions and instruments, to l)e 
procured of the astronomer, David Rittenhouse. 
The other surveyors were John Milton Holley, 
RiciiAED M. Stoddaed and Moses Waeeen, Jr. 
Their journey from Old Connecticut to New, with 
their boatmen, chainmen and axemen, is fully de- 
scribed in the extracts which I give from the journals 
of Cleaveland, Holley and Pease. 

It has not been practicable to procure their diaries 
in full, or to insert them entire where they have 
been obtained. 

The mode of dividing the property among its 
owners, was cumbrous ; but was made so by a jeal- 
ous regard to justice in the distribution. Six town- 
ships east of the Cuyahoga, were to be subdivided 



170 NUMBER OF DRAFTS. 

for sale, for the general Lenefit of the Company. 
Four more townships of the next l)est (piality, were 
to be surveyed into four hundred lots, of one hun- 
dred and sixty acres each : equal to the number of 
shares, to l)e drawn l)y lot; three thousand dollars 
purchase money representing a share. 

What remained on the east of the Cuyahoga, was 
to be divided into as many portions, to be called a 
draft, as there were townships of equal value. To 
come at this much coveted equality, the connuittee 
on partition, were I'equired to select the best full 
township, as a draft ; and add fractional townships, 
tracts, and lots, to all the others, until the less desir- 
able ones, were made in all respects equal to the 
best. 

The avails of the six to\vnships, sold for the gen- 
eral benefit, after the general expenses were paid, 
were distributed in subsequent drafts. 

In the first draft the committee on partition made 
ninety-two parcels, each equal in value to the 
best township, which parcels covered all the ter- 
ritory to be drawn east of the Cuyahoga. 

By foreclosure or l)y arrangement, the State of 
Connecticut became the jn'ivate owner of some lands 
on the Western Reserve, which were sold l)y her 
agents. The late Leonard Case, of Cleveland, 
transacted a large part of this l)usiness. Thus 
through forms and proceedings that are complicated, 
a simple and safe system of titles has l)een secured 



SURVEYS OF 1796. 



We o^ve many tliaiiks to the surveyors, for tlieir 
intelligence and industry in making note of events. 
Other members of the expedition of 179G-'97, kept 
memoranda of their travels, some of ^vhieli Avill ap- 
pear in thei]' proper places. It is due to the general 
system of New England education, that her sons 
are able, wherever they go in unexplored countries, 
to record intelligibly, what passes under their obser- 
vation. 

JOHN MILTON HOLLEY'S JOURNAL. 

This day, A])ril 2StJ(, 1706, started from Dover 
for Lake Erie, lodged first night at Jas. Dakins', 
second day at Col. Porter's ; left there about 1 
o'clock with friend Porter, lodged second night at 
Johnson's in Spencertown, third night at Wendell's 
Hotel, Albany. 

Sunday dined at Shenectady, and lodged at 
Esquire Miles' in New Amsterdam, thence through 



172 EOUTE OF THE PARTY. 

Ballantine and Germanflats, and lodged at Talcott's, 
next night at Dean's in Westmoreland, and thence 
to Morehouse's, thence to (torn off), thence to San- 
born's in Canandaiqua. (A portion lost.) 

The Qtli of May. — Lodged at Mons. Sanborn's in 
Canandaiqua, was gone to the Eutrantiquet (Iron- 
duquoit) from Tuesday morning till Wednesday 
evening. 

Tuesday^ May lS)th, '96. — Left Canandaiqua for 
Eutrantiquet bay, lodged at Richardson's in Stones- 
town. 

May '^Ist. — In the afternoon left Canandaiqua for 
Gerundicut (Ironduquoit) a second time. 

Stow and Stoddard came from Sodus, on lake 
Ontario, with information that three boats were cast 
away, but no lives or property lost ; in consequence 
of which we left Canandaiqua the 31st of May, for 
Gerundicut, slept the first night at Howe's in Bough- 
tontown. 

June 1st. — went to the landing to see our boat, 
but as it had not arrived, Porter, Stow and myself 
embarked on Dunbar's boat, to go to the great lake 
to meet our boat, but as luck would have it we went 
in the boat about half a mile to the landing, 
unloaded, and Porter with four hands returned to 
Little Sodus, to give relief to those who were cast 
away, and Stow and myself with our hands encamp- 
ed on the Gerundicut. Built a bark hut, and the 
men lodged in it the first night. Stow and myself 



liEAClt CANANDAIQUA. 1^,1 

lodged on tlie floor at Dunbar's. Go to Sjiith's 
mill and see if tliere is any flour or wheat, and if so, 
if there are barrels, if not, call upon Steel, get four 
l^arrels of poik at Ciiapin's and two l^tarrels of flour 
at Chapman's. 

June 2>(L — Gen. Cleayeland at evening arrived 
at Canandaiqua and gave us information that the 
l)oats had gone from Whitestown to Fort Stanwix, 
and Mr. Stow got a letter from the British minister, 
or charge des' affaires, to the commanding oflicer at 
Fort Oswego, ree^uesting permission for our boats to 
pass unmolested. This information, together with 
the favorable prospect of wind and weather at that 
time, gave us great hopes that the stores would get 
on safely and rapidly, l)ut on Saturday morning 
there sprang up in the north-west a storm, and Idew 
most violently on the shore of the Lake. This 
proved fatal to one of the boats, and damaged an- 
other very much, though we went a little forward to 
a safe harbor, and built several fires on the bank of 
the Lake as a beacon to those coming on. After the 
disaster had happened, the T)oat that was safe went 
on to the Gerundicut with a load, and left the other 
three, including the one that was stove, at Little 
Sodus, encamped near the Lake. Among the pas- 
sengers were two families, one of the women with a 
little child. The Avater at Gerundicut is about two 
rods wdde and twelve to fourteen feet deep, very 
crooked and great obstruction for boats. Started 



174 IWSi^ OSWEGO Al^D LITTLE SODUS. 

for Caiiaiic]ai(|iia and arrived on tlie morning of tlie 

4tlL 

All tliese misfortunes happened in consequence of 
not having liberty to jiass the fort at Os^vego. Such 
are the effects of allowing the British government to 
exist on the continent of America. 

rfune 5t/i. — The boats left Gerundicut for Niagara. 

tTune 7fh.- — Pahisii returned from Buftalo Creek, 
with information how the Indians ^vould meet us. 
At this time the court was sitting at Canandaiqua. 
I heard my ftiend Salstonstall make a plea in the 
case of Williamston rs Berry. Salstonstall in 
favor of BeiTy. 

J'U7ie 14:t7i. — Left Canandaiqtia Tuesday for Buftalo 
creek, lodged first night at Tiiayers', in the Gore, 
was very sick ^^'ith the headache, second night at 
Berey's, on tlie l^ank of the Genesee river ; and rode 
about two miles across the flat to the Indian 
settlement, six miles from here to Big Spring. 

Thence about ten miles to Allen's creek, a stream 
about two rods wide, and not very deep, the bed is 
a solid rock, thence nine miles to the bend in Tona- 
wanto creek, thence about sixteen miles to where 
we cross the creek — this stream is about twice as 
large as Allen's creek — that is, twice as much water, 
thence through long openings and swam^^s, or rather 
low lands, to Big Fall creek, here is almost a perpen- 
dicular fall of -about forty feet. Thence to Buftalo 
creek. This stream runs nearly north, and empties 



NIAGARA FALLkS AND CHIPPEWA. I7ij 

into lake Erie about three miles from tlie outlet 
opposite to Fort Erie, it is alxnit ten I'ods wide at 
its moutli, and very deep. 

June Vltli. — At evening we got to Skinnep.'s tav- 
ern, at Buffalo creek. 

On tlie IStli, PoKTETi and myself went on the 
creek in a hark canoe, a fishing, and caught oidy 
three little ones. • 

Sunday^ VMli June. — Left Buffalo in Winney's 
boat, for Chippe^va, had a fair wind down, and 
arrived aljout one o'clock at Chippewa, dined at 
Fanning's, found our goods were not at the Gore, 
in Chippewa, and was obliged to go to Queenstown 
after them, and as I could not get a horse was 
obliged to walk. I got to Queenstown before night 
and lodged at Col. Ingersoll's, next morning set out 
for Buffalo. On the way I sto],)ped to take a view of 
Niagara Falls. That river, a little above Fort 
Slusher, is two and one half miles wide. Soon after 
this the water is very I'apid, and continuing on, is 
hurried with amazing impetuosity down the most 
stupenduous j^recipice perhaps in nature. There is 
a fog continually arising, occasioned by the tumbling 
of the water, which, in a clear morning, is seen from 
lake Erie, at the distance of thirty or forty miles, as 
is the noise also heard. As the hands were very 
dilatory in leaving Chippewa, we were obliged to 
encamp on the great island in the river. We struck 
a fire and cooked some scpiirrels and pigeons, and a 



l7(> TREATY AT BUFFALO. 

young j^artridge ; two I eat for supper. I slept very 
sound all night, between a large log and tlie bank 
of tlie river. The next day arrived at Buffalo. 
About two o'clock this afternoon, tlie council fire 
witli the Six Nations was uncovered, and at evening 
was again covered until morning, when it was 
opened again, and after some considerable delay, 
Caj^tain Brant gave General Cleaveland a sj)eech 
in writing. 

The chiefs, after this, were determined to get 
drunk. No more business was done this day. In 
the evening, the Indians had one of their old ceremo- 
nial dances, where one gets up and walks up and 
down between them, singing something, and those 
who sit around keep tune, by grunting. 

Next morning, which was the 23d, after several 
speeches back and forth, from Red Jacket to Gen- 
eral Cleaveland, Captain Ciiapin, Brai^t, tfec, tfcc. 

General Cleaveland answered Captain Brant's 
speech. In short, the business was concluded in this 
Avay. General Cleaveland offered Brant one 
thousand dollars as a present. Brant, in answer, 
told General Cleaveland that their minds were 
easily satisfied, but that they thought his offer was 
not enough, and added this to it, that if he would 
Use his influence with the United States, to procure 
an annuity of five hundred dollars par^ and if this 
should fail, that the Connecticut Land Company 
should, in a reasonable time, make an additional 



RED JACKETS VIEWS. 177 

present of one tlioiisand five hundred dollars, which 
was agreed to. The Mohawks are to give one hun- 
dred dollars to the Senecas, and Cleaveland gave 
two heef cattle and whisky, to make a feast for 
them. 

lliursdaji, Jdne 2S(I. — Farmees Brother, Red 
Jacket, and Little Billy, and Green Grass Hopper 
dined with the Commissioners. In the course of 
conversation Red Jacket gave his sentiments upon 
religion, which were to this purpose. You white 
people make a great parade about religion, you say 
you have a book of laws and rules which was given 
you by the Great Spirit, but is this true ^ Was it 
written l:)y his own liand and given to joui No, 
says he, it was written by your own people. They 
do it to deceive you. Their whole wishes center 
here, (pointing to his pocket,) all they want is the 
money. (It happened there was a priest in the room 
at the same time who heard him.) He says white 
people tell them, they wish to come and live among 
them as brothers, and learn them agriculture. So 
they bring on implements of husbandry and presents, 
tell them good stories, and all appears honest. But 
when they are gone all appears as a dream. Our 
land is taken from us, and still we don't kno^\^ how 
to fai'm it. 

Monday^ June 21 th. — At five minutes after eleven 
o'clock we left Bufl:alo creek. Wind fair when we 
started, but soon came ahead. We went forward to 



1^^ 



LEAVK EFFFALd'. 



Cataragiis creek, wliicli is thirty-six miles l)y hiiid, 
l)iit not more than twenty-eight l)y water, where we 
encamped on the beach for the night. Early in tlu^ 
mornino; of the 28tli Ave left Cataras^ns Avith a fair 
wind, bnt had not sailed one hnndred rods be'fore it 
came plump ahead, and we returned into the creek 
again, and pitched our tents for the day. The Avind 
continued to blow very hard from the north-west, so 
lono; that Ave Avere oblisied to reuiain there till the 
first of July. On Friday morning we left Cataragus 
creek Avith a fair Avind, Avhich lasted till al^out ten 
o'clock, AAdien it came more ahead, but Ave continued 
roAving, and encamped the next night past the Penn- 
sylvania line, and about sixteen miles from Presque 
Isle. Next morning run into Presque Isle harl)or, 
by a quarter after ten in the morning — vieAved the 
fort building there ])y the United States, and the 
old French fort AAdiich Avas built before the French 
Avar. It is noAV entirely demolished, and a toAvn laid 
out upon the place. Tlie Avind sprang up and Ave 
could not land at the landing place, so Ave run over 
the T)ay about one mile to the ])enin8ida and en- 
camped. Here Ave lay till the next day at evening 
AAdien Ave Avent up the l)ay to | iraufuK/. \ 

FROM THE JOURNAL OF SETH PEASE. 

June 21.s7, — I set out from Niagara fort, or Ncaa'- 
ark, Avent on foot to the landing above the falls, 
AH sited the cataract of Niagara; it takes a stone 



ASTRONOIMIOAL OBSERVATIONS. 1^9 

three seconds to fall from the top of the rock to the 
bottom. 

June 22<'/. — We went on as far as Buffalo creek. 
The counciLhegan 21st, and ended Friday follo^vino■, 
The present made the Indians was £500, New Yoik 
cnrrency, in goods. This the western Indians re- 
ceived. 

To the eastern Indians they gave two beef cattle 
and one hundred gallons of Avhisky. The western 
also had provisions to help them home. The Indians 
had their keeping during the council. 

SatunJai/^ June 2i)tli, 1796, — Sun's meridian: 

Alt. Lower Limb, Q, '^0° 1^' ^>*^" 

Dip. Sub., 1 25 

Parallax -f, 2 

Refraction, IS 

0,iDiam.+, 15 47 

O Declination, 23° 22 49 

Sun, 47° 6^ 30" 

Latitude, . 42° 53^ 30" 

of Buffalo Creek about thirty-five rods nortli of the 
mouth. 

Monday^ June "2^tJi. — We started from Buffalo 
creek at 11 o'clock, A. M., to cross lake Erie. Steered 
south, 34^ west. Our latitude at noon, forty-two, 
twenty minutes North. Got to Cataraugus, a con- 
venient harbor. 

Tuesday^ June 2Sfh. — We got under way about a 



1^0 REACH PRESQUE ISLE. 

mile, tlie wind sprang up ahead ; we tacked aT)ont 
and made tlie liarlior; liigli wind and some rain. 

Friday^ Juhj \st. — We started from Cataraugus. 
Camped on the lake shore; our latitud-e forty-two 
degrees, foui-teen minutes. Night calm and clear. 

Saturday, we got to Presque Isle about 10 o'clock, 
A. M. In the afternoon we crossed the bay and 
camped on the beach. Sunday, wind a-head. 

Sunday, Jidy Sd. — On examination of the quad- 
rant, we found that one hundred and eighty degrees 
measured one hundred and eighty degrees and four 
minutes, 1)}^ the octant. We went on as far as 
the portage, got our l)oats and loading over and 
camped. 

Monday, Jidy Atli, Inde])endence Day. — I traveled 
by land ; good walking on the shore and 1 )ank ; 
high springs and streams very plenty and good. We 
discovered Pennsylvania north line alxiut 3 o'clock, 
P. M., a stone marked on the north side, and on the 
south, Pennsylvania forty-two degrees north latitude, 
variation, seven minutes thirty seconds west, c%c. 

Monday, July Uli, 1796. — We that came by land 
arrived at the confines of New Connecticut and gave 
three cheers precisely at 5 o'clock, P. M., we then 
proceeded to Conneaut at 5 hours 30 minutes ; our 
boats got on an hour after ; we pitched our tents on 
the east side. 

Tuesday, bth. — At camp. (Mli. — ^ Traversed the 
Lake shore ft'oiu the stone at forty-two degrees north 



AREIVE AT CONTSTEAUT, 181 

latitude, to the stone at the north end of Pennsyl- 
vania line. 

Tliursdaij, ItJi. — In the afternoon we began to 
measure the east line of New Connecticut. We run 
about two miles south and encamped by a pond in 
a swamp. Plenty of gnats and mosquitoes ; poor 
water. 

" Frickii/^ Sfh. — • We run about live miles. We 
crossed creek Independence. Land aljout middling. 
Went back one mile to camp ; poor water. 

EXTRACT FROM THE JOURNAL OF GENERAL 
MOSES CLEAYELAND. 

On this creek (" Conneaught ") in New Connecti- 
cut land, July 4th, 179(3, under General Moses 
Cleaveland, the surveyors, and men sent 1)y the Con- 
necticut Land Company to survey and settle the 
Connecticut Reserve, and were the first English 
people who took possession of it. The day, memor- 
able as the 1 )irtliday of American Independence, and 
freedom from British tyranny, and commemorated by 
all good freeborn sons of America, and memorable 
as the day on which the settlement of this new 
country was commenced, and in time may raise her 
head amongst the most enlightened and improved 
States. And after many difficulties perplexities and 
hardshij)s ^vere surmounted, and we were on the 
good and promised land, felt that a just tribute of 



182 FIUST CELEJi RATION. 

respect to tlie day ought to l)e i)aid. There were in 
all, including men, women and children, fifty in 
nmiiber. The men, under Captain Tinker ranged 
themselves on the beach, and fired a Federal salute 
of fifteen rounds, and then the sixteenth in honor 
of New Connecticut. We gave three cheers and 
christened the place Port Indej^endence. Drank 
several toasts, viz : 

1st. The President of the United States. 

lM. The State of New Connecticut. 

:^d. The Connecticut Land Company. 

4th. May the Port of Inde})endence and the fifty 
sons and daughters who have entered it this day be 
successful and prosperous. 

5th. May these sons and daughters nuiltiply in 
sixteen years sixteen times fifty. 

(3th. May every person have his bo^vsprit trimmed 
and ready to enter every port that opens. 

Closed with three cheers. Drank several pails of 
grog, supped and retired in remarkable good order. 

Jf/Jf/ Dfh. — Wrote letters to the directors and my 
Avife. Two l)oats Avere dis2:>atched under the direc- 
tion of Tinker to Fort Erie, to bring the remainder 
of stores left there. The Connt^aut is uoav choked 
Avith sand. The stream is capable of admitting 
boats the greater part of the year, u]) l^eyond the 
Pennsylvania line, Avhicli in a straight line cannot T)e 
more than four miles. 

tTidf/ ^itli. — Keceived a message from the Paqua 



HOLDS A TALK Wri'll l'A(i(rA. 183 

C.'hicf of tlie Massasagoes, residing in Conneaut, tliat 
tliey Avislied a council held that day. I prepared to 
meet them, and after they Aver(^ all seated, took my 
seat in the middle. Cato, son of Pac^ua, was the 
orator, PAciHA dictated. They opened the council 
l)y smoking tlie pipe of peace and friendship. The 
orator then rose and addressed me in the lano:ua2:e 
of Indian flattery, "Thank the Great Spirit for pre- 
serving and l)ringing me there, thank tlie Great 
Spirit for giving a pleasant day," and then rerpiested 
to know our claim to the land, as they had friends 
Avho resided on the land, and others at a distance 
who Avould come there. They wanted to know 
what I would do with theuL T replied, informing 
them of our title, and what I liad said to the Six 
Nations, and also assured them that they should not 
l)e disturbed in their possessions, we would treat 
them and their friends as l)rothers. They then pre- 
sented me with the pipe of friendship and peace, a 
curious one, indeed, I returned a chain of Avampum, 
silver trinkets, and other presents, and whisky, to 
the amount of about twenty-flve dollars. They 
also said they were poor ; and as I had expressed, 
hoped ^ve should 1)e friendly and continue to he 
liberal. I told them I acted for others as well as 
for myself, and to ^)e lil)eral of others property was 
no evidence of true friendship ; those people I 
represented lived l)y industry, and to give away 
their proj)erty lavishly, to those who live in indolence 



184 HIS ADV^ICE. 

and by begging, would be no deed of cliarity. As 
long a,s tliey were industrious aud conducted them- 
selves Avell, I Avould do sucli l)enevolent acts to tlieni 
as would l)e judged riglit, and would do tlieni the 
most good, cautioned tlieni against indolence and 
drunkeness. This not only closed the business, but 
checked their begging for more Avhisky. 

Julij lOfh. — Went with Capt. Buckland about 
eight miles up the beach; wind ahead. Stopped 
at Jay creek, then went al)out three miles farther ; 
[)art of the way slate rock, and trees had tumbled 
in ; the surf high, making very hard walking on my 
return ; lost one stocking ; dined on the beach ; went 
two miles farther and turned in, took a berth with 
orreat-coat under a hemlock. 

o 

tTidf/ 11th. — Keturned to Port Independence; a 
storm of rain coining on made it uncomfortable, and 
wet us very decently. 

J^iilf/ 12th. — Dispatched Stoddakd with four men 
to join Porter, tfec. 

LETTER OF AMZI ATWATEK. 

Mantua, Jan. i25th, 1S4G. 

John Barr, Esq., — Dear Sir: — I received your 
letter of the 10th inst., requesting some information 
respecting the landing at Conneaut, of the first sur- 
veying company on the Reserve, and the appearance 
of the harbor, Slq. I have no means of informing 



POliT 1N1)P:1»EN1)ENCE. 



185 



you except from frail memory. But it appears to me 
tlie view was so stamped in my mind, that if I was 
a painter or engraver, I could give a good view of 
it as it then appeared. I think the following is as 
good a representation as I can now give : 



PLAN OF THE MOUTH 1796. 



HtAVVT/MSCff 




a, — Boats. b, — Tents. c, — Store nouse. 

The lake at that time was very low, the Leach 
was wide, and the lake calm. There was a wide 
space between the shore and the high bank, to the 
east of the mouth, which had resisted the force of 
the current and the waves, until there was consid- 
erable of a grove of midling sized timber grown on 
13 



186 CAMP AND STORE HOUSE. 

it. The south west wind had so long prevailed, that 
it luid driven the creek back, and formed a wide 
sand ])ar down to the grove of timber, Avhere it 
turned short into the lake. There was a considera- 
l)le space left, l)etween the creek and the high bank, 
Avliich was covered ^vith small tind^er and bushes. 
On tliis space the tents Avere pitched and the 
encampment established, until the store house was 
built. The store house was built at the end of the 
grove, near the short bend in the creek. 

The boats were taken into the mouth of the creek, 
and lay along the south bank near the bend. The 
timber al)ove the high bank, was in appearance like 
that of the lake shore generally, not very large, but 
tolerable straight and handsome. It was of a great 
variety, consisting of almost all the trees common in 
our counti'y, except evergreens, which wei'e very 
scarce on our lake shore. If an engraving should be 
made I wish there might be two. One to represent 
the appearance of the creek and surrounding shore, 
with three boats in the creek on the south side, and 
one entering the creek near the bend, with a group 
of men cbiving pack horses and cattle up the beach, 
near the creek. On the other the boats side by side, 
on the south side of the creek, near the bend, and 
further back, and a little up stream, the tents, and 
in front of them, the agent and surveyors holding 
the council with the Indians. But I am not a 
painter or an engraver, and can't direct. 



TOWERS OF THE AOENT. 187 

I uiu ^vell satisfied tliat tlie view which I herewitli 
send is coiTeet, except it may l)e not in a ])i'0})er 
])i'opoi'tion, as to the length and In'eadth of tlie sand 
har and beach. But I know they were then very 
wide. Yours, 

A. Atwateu. 



INSTRUCTIONS OF THE DIRECTORS TO THEIR 

AGENT. 

To Moses Cleaveland, Msq.^ of tJie countu of W'uuh 
hd'in, and State of Corinectwat, one of the Directors 
of the Connecticut Land Company, Greeting : 

We, the Board of Directors of said Connecticut 
Land Company, having appointed you to go on to 
said land, as Superintendent over the agents and 
]nen, sent on to survey and make locations on said 
land, to make, and enter into friendly negotiations 
Avith the natives who are on said land, or contiiruous 
thereto, and may have any pretended claim to the 
same, and secure sucli friendly intercourse amongst 
tliem as will establish peace, quiet, and safety to the 
survey and settlement of said lands, not ceded by 
tlie natives under the authority of the United States. 
You are hereby, for the foregoing purposes, fully 
authorized and emjiowered to act, and transact all 
the above business, in as full and am2:)le a manner as 
^ve ourselves could do, to make contracts in the 



188 LIST OF THE PARTY. 

foregoing matters in our behalf and stead ; and make 
sncli drafts on our Treasury, as may be necessary to 
accomj)lisli the foregoing olvject of your appointment. 
And all agents and men by us employed, and sent 
on to survey and settle said land, to be obedient to 
your orders and directions. And you are to be 
accountal)le for all monies by you received, conform- 
ing your conduct to such orders and directions as 
we may, from time to time, give you, and to do and 
act in all matters, according to your best skill and 
judgment, wkick may tend to the best interest, pros- 
perity, and success of said Connecticut Land Com- 
pany. Having more particularly for your guide tlie 
Articles of Association entered into and signed by 
the individuals of said Company. 

Oliver Phelps, 

Henry Champion, -_ . 

^ T.-r > Directors. 

KOGER JNEWBERRY, 

Samuel Mather, Jiiii. I 



SURVEYING PARTY OF 1796. 

General Moses Cleaveland, Siqyerintendent. 

Augustus Porter, Principal Surveyor and Deputy 
Superintendent. 

Seth Pease, Astronomer and Surveyor. 

Amos Spafford, John Milton Holley, Richard M. Stod- 
dard and Moses Warren, Surveyors. 

Joshua Stow, Commissary. 

Theodore Shepard, Physician. 



EJEPLOYEES. 



189 



EMPLOYEES OF THE COiMPANY. 



Joseph Tinker, Boatman 
George Proudfoot, 
Samuel Forbes, 
Stephen Benton, 
Samuel Hungerford, 
Samuel Davenport, 
Amzi Atwater, 
Elisha Ayres, 
Norman Wilcox, 
George Gooding, 
Samuel Agnew, 
David Beard, 
Titus V. Munson, 
Charles Parker, 
Nathaniel Doan, 
James Halket, 
Olney F. Rice, 
Samuel Barnes, 
Daniel Shulay, 



Joseph M'Intyre, 
Francis Gray, 
Amos Sawtel, 
Amos Barber, 
William B. Hall, 
Asa Mason, 
Michael Coffin, 
Thomas Harris, 
Timothy Dunham, 
Shadrach Benham, 
Wareiiam Siiepard, 
John Briant. 
Joseph Landon, 
Ezekiel Morly, 
Luke Hanchet, 
James Hamilton, 
John Lock, 
Stephen Burbank. 
No. of Emi)loyees, - - 



6i 



Elijah Gun, and Anna, liis wife, came with the 
surveyors and took charge of Stow's castle at Con- 
neaut. 

Job p. Stiles, and Tabitiia Cir.Mi, liis wife, were 
left in charge of the company's stores at Cleveland. 

Nathan Chapman and Nathan Perry furnished 
the surveyors with fresh beef, and traded with the 
Indians. 

There were thirteen horses and some cattle, which 
completes the party of 1790. 



MODE OF EXECUTING THE SURVEYS. 



Soon after the celebration of the 4th of Jnly, 170G, 
had been completed, the snrveyors with their parties 
entered upon their duties. A ])lan of survey deter- 
mined upon by the company, was first to lay out 
upon the ground, the forty-first parallel of latitude, 
as a 1)ase line. From thence they were to run lines 
of longitude five miles apart, due north to lake Erie, 

These were to be crossed by east and west lines, 
also five miles apart, all of which constituted the 
boundaries of townships, five miles square. 

The townships were to be numbered as Ranges, 
counting from the Pennsylvania line as a meridian, 
westward, to the number of twenty-four; making 
one hundred and twenty miles. From the base line 
they are numbered northward, as Towns; to the 
shore of lake Erie. Thus Cleveland 1 )efore it had a 
name as a township, was designated as No. 7, in the 
twelfth Range, l^eing twelve townships west of the 
Pennsylvania line ; and seven townships north of the 
forty-first parallel of latitude. 



102 TIIEY COMMENCE WOKK. 

]i*ort luclepeiidence at tlie inoutli of the Coniieaut 
river, is only a couple of miles witliin the State of 
Ohio. 

In a few hours they found the west line of Penn- 
sylvania, which had heen run and cleared only a few 
years previous. A stone was set u]) Avhere this line 
came to the lake, on which was marked the latitude ; 
and which was barely within the limits of the State 
of Connecticut on the north, according to her grants 
and charter. Her claims under these instruments, 
were limited to the parallel of forty-two degrees and 
two minutes north ; on which the lines of Connecti- 
cut and Pennsylvania are now fixed. The parties 
proceeded down the Pennsylvania line, measuring as 
they went; in order to assist them in finding the 
forty-first parallel, and also to determine the varia- 
tion of their compasses. Mr. Holley's journal is so 
complete a narrative, that I insert it almost without 
abbreviation. 

HOLLEY'S JOURNAL— CONNEAUT TO THE SOUTH 
EAST CORNER OF THE RESERVE. 

Timrsday, July ^th, 1796. — Left Conneaut creek in 
company with Augustus Porter, Setii Pease, and 
five other men for the south east corner of New 
Connecticut. We came to the north corner of Penn- 
sylvania, and I'an down al)()ut five or six rods west of 
the line. At four miles and sixty-six chains, crossed 



PENNSYLVANIA LINE. 103 

tlie Coimeaut creek. The l^auks here are steep. 
To the end of the eighth mile the land is very similar 
to the first fonr or five, not well watered at all. To 
the end of the thirteenth mile, the land has every 
a})pearance of being over fiowed in the wet seasons. 
On the fourteenth mile the land rises and falls, and 
of course is better. At sixty chains we stop and 
encamp on high ground for the night. Here, by a 
very good observation of the Polar star at its greatest 
eastern elongation, we took the variation of the 
needle, ,( which was one degree, thirty-five minutes 
east elongation of the star.) By a second oljserva- 
tion, next morning with the ranges it appeared to be 
one degree, thirty minutes, (the stars elongation.) 
The needle varied fifty-three minutes east. Porter's 
compass and mine varied alike. Major Spafford's 
ten minutes less. The land to the end of the nine- 
teenth mile is ridgy and better watered, covered with 
almost all kinds of timber. On the twentieth mile 
an open Tamarach swamp, twenty-eight chains wide. 
To the end of the twenty-third mile the land is indif- 
ferent, swamp}'. 

Monday^ Juhj Wtli, — ^We were stopped by the 
rain, and encamped near an excellent brook, which 
we considered a very favorable circumstance. The 
next morning we left this place and went on to the 
end of the twenty-fifth mile, through the most abom- 
inable swamp in the world. The twenty-sixth mile 
is ])art of good l)ottom land, if it can ])e ke])t from 



194 CROSS TTtE PYiAfATUlSrtNG. 

over lowing in sunimer, wliicli I (loiil)t some. On 
thv twenty-seventli mile is a creek (Pyniatuning) 
about sixty links wide. The water l)efore tliis liad 
all ran north, but when we first came upon this 
stream the course was north east, then a little Avay 
and it was south west, tlien crooked again and ran 
south east, and continued on pretty much this course. 
It is a smooth stream five or six feet deep, and navi- 
gable for batteaux. The land on each side is rich, 
but to all appearance is covered with water the 
greater part of the year ; where we came upon the 
creek the second time we crossed upon a beaver 
dam, which Avas cpiite a curiosity. The dam con- 
sisted of some large sticks or trees thrown across the 
stream, and filled in with thousands of willows and 
other small w^ood ; which was so compact as to make 
consideralde of a pond above, from which, through 
a rich soil was cut several canals and arms, Avhere 
they live now, as is evident from fresh tracks and 
newly cut chips and ])rusli. "* * '^ 

Tuesday, Jnhj Vltli. — In the morning we break- 
fasted in our camp by the little brook, and left the 
pack horse men to come on after us, but when Ave 
had proceeded about a mile, Ave sent back a hand to 
tell the men to go round the SAvamp Avitli the horses, 
but the SAvamp continued, and Ave i"an on till night. 
Here l)eing a hemlock ridge, Ave Avere in liopes tlie 
horses would l)e able to find lis, but alas! Ave Avere 
oldiged to make a litth^ cam]> of boughs, strike u]i 



TllEIll TKOUHLES AND TllIAtA lOT) 

a fire, and go to Ixul su})})i'rles8. In tlic day time I 
had eat raspberries, gooseljerries, wintergreen berries 
and wintergreens, and in the night I began to grow 
sick at my stomach, and soon after vomited up 
every thing that was in me. Mr. Peasp: too Inid a 
tnrn of the cramp, in consequence of traveling all 
day in the water. We all arose early in the morn- 
ing, with meagre looks and somewhat faint for want 
of eating and drinking, for where we camped there 
was no water, though we had a little rum. 

On the morning of the 13th we continued our 
course down the Pennsylvania line t^vo hundred 
and sixty rods, through an alder swamp, till we 
came to a ridge of oak, beach, pine, cfec, where we 
detennined to stop and wait the coming of pro- 
visions. Mr. Porter and Mr. Hall took the com- 
pass, and were to travel east twenty minutes, to try 
and find the horses' tracks if they had passed. Mi*. 
Pease and Mr. Spafford took my compass, and 
were to do the same to the west, while I stayed on 
the line. I made up a fire, and was clearing a spot 
to lie down, when to my joy and surprise I heard 
a voice back of us, which I quickly answered, and 
found to be Joseph Landon, one of the pack horse* 
men (and a good fellow too,) coming with a back 
load of provisions. We called Porter and Pease 
back as soon as possible, and all partook of a most 
cheerful and nuich needed breakfast. After this 
Was over, Mr. Portep^, Hall and Landon went to 



10(3 TliK PAIITY UNITED. 

help tlie horses on, as they had found the swamp so 
large tliat it Avas impossible to go round it, and they 
were oldic-ed to come throui^h, and were al)out three 
and a half miles behind. Mr. Pease, Spaffohd and 
myself staid to take care of the packs, <fec. After a 
little time, Mr. Spaffoed and myself went al^out 
half a mile east to the large creek to fish, l)ut were 
unsuccessful. We returned to Pease, and enjoyed 
the day as well as possible. It is now twenty min- 
utes after seven, and we have just heard the voices 
of our friends returning. The land to the end of 
the twenty-eighth mile is low, but the soil is I'ich. 
There are two runs of water on this mile. The 
thirtieth mile is fine intervale land ; a creek thirty 
links wide. On the thirty-first mile is a fine creek 
twenty-five links wide ; l^ottom stony ; brisk current ; 
another creek twenty links wide, north-east; land 
more ridgy, soil good. On thirty-second mile is fine 
land for wheat; timber chestnut, white oak and 
maple rises and descends. On the thirty-third mile 
is a good run of water, good land and I'idgy. On 
the thirty-fourth mile is a fine spring. To the end 
of the thirty-seventh mile the laud is good, level and 
timljered with maple, beach, oak and white wood, 
with herbage. The land to the end of the forty- 
first mile is gentle, rises and descends, good, and 
timl )ered with white and black oak, chestnut, pep- 
perage, cucund^er and white wood. At the end of 
the forty-second mile Ave encamped al)out ?> o'clock, 



porter's party arrives. 107 

and waited till luorning. From the Peniisylvauia 
line here, Ave had a most pleasing prospect, a hill at 
the distance of fonr or five miles, with the valley 
that lay between, covered wdth stately trees and 
herl )ao'e, wdiich indicated an excellent soil, altogether 
exhibited a delightful landscape, the beanty of 
Avhich, I suppose, was enhanced from its being the 
first time we could overlook the woods. 

'Tidij li)tJi. — On Saturday morning a party of five, 
ordered by Mr. Porter, came up. The woods being 
wet, in consequence of the rain the evening before, 
we delayed starting till after noon. From this place 
two men with one pack horse, returned to creek 
Independence, for provision. We proceeded on our 
way wath five horses. Land to the end of the forty- 
third mile is composed of rises and descends, the 
whole generally descends to the south west. The 
soil rich, timbered with black and w^hite oak, chest- 
nut and black walnut, undergrowth of the same hung 
together with grape vines. There are three fine 
springs on this mile. At the last end of the forty-fourth 
mile we crossed a large smooth stream (Shenango) 
one chain and twenty-five links wide, course east, 
stony bottom, banks tolerably high, as far as we 
could see it was good boating; we waded the stream, 
it was al)out two and a half feet deep, but an uncom- 
mon dry time. Forty-fifth mile, land rises and 
descends. Timl)er, oak and hickory; soil good for 



IDS CROSS THE SHENANGO. 

grain. On tlie forty-sixtli niile near a run, course 
east, we encamped for the niglit. 

Stnuhn/, July ItfJi. — Continued on ; tlie laud is 
level, and good timber, maple, black oak, beecli and 
ironwood. Forty-seventli mile, tlie lirst })art level, 
tlie last part very steep ridges ; timbered witli oak, 
the soil poor. The forty-eighth mile more gentle 
rises, land better, pretty well watered. Forty -ninth 
mile is very abrupt ridges, stony and poor land, oak 
timl)er, and whintleberries. To the end of the iifty- 
second mile land very much as last descril)ed. On 
the iifty-second mile the land descends to the east, 
and ^\ e overlook several large ridges ; on tliis also, 
there are large stones which appear like grindstones. 
On the tifty-third mile we crossed a large creek or 
river about two chains and ht'ty links wide : bottom 
o-ravelly, ciu'rent brisk, abounds with hsli, course 
south west. We waded this and found the depth 
at this dry season to be more than waist high. We 
supposed this to be the same stream ^ve crossed on 
the forty-fourth mile, Avith the addition of all others 
that we passed. On this creek is good bottom land 
timbered with red elm, cherry, cral) ap])le trees, 
plumb and thorn Imsli. This has been a A\et uii- 
comfoi*table day. In the morning when we started 
from our encampment three of our men were looking 
for the horses that had strayed. 

Monditfj, Ji(hj ISfJi. — In the morning. Our horses 



UNCOMFOETABLE WEATHER. 1*J9 

have not yet came. It is beginning to rain and we 
have eonclnded not to leave onr eueanipnient. 

2)ies(/af/^ Julij IdfJi. — We continued our line 
south. At about one hundred rods from the camp 
we crossed the river again, where it appears naviga- 
ble for l)oats. About twelve rods from the river Ave 
crossed a creek four rods wide, gravel bottom. Mr. 
Porter went about one half mile up this and found 
course to l)e east and west running east. We soon 
rose on the high land, timbered to the end of the 
fifty-sixth mile, the land is very similar — rises and 
descends; timber oak, some maple and beech, Avell 
watered, soil in many places good. On the fifty- 
seventh mile is some interval on a creek twenty-five 
links wide. Rest of land ridgy and stony. To the 
end of the sixtieth mile land is ridgy. Land on 
the sixty-first mile descends to the south ; soil a fine 
liglit red loam, which is excellent. On the sixty- 
second mile land continued to descend south, gradu- 
ally. Encamped on this mile. From the rain 
yesterday and a shower this morning Ave have been 
Avet and uncomfortable all day. 

Wednesday, July 20fh. — Land on sixty-second 
mile, low and moist. Land on sixty-third mile is 
excellent and handsome, rises and descends. Sixty- 
fourth mile, land flat and wet. On the sixty-fifth 
mile, for seA^enty chains, descends gently to the 
south, thinly timljered Avith Avhite and Ijlack oak, 
undergrowth same kind, and grapevines ; at seventy- 



200 THE OLD INDIAN TllAIL. 

two chains, to an Indian patJi ea><t and we,st, we de- 
scend on a good intervale. On tlie sixty-sixth mile 
we encamped, at five chains, on the north side of a 
river. This "\ve find to Le Big Beaver river (Ma- 
honing.) The course is east, current gentle Ijut 
brisk, gravel bottom and low Ijanks. It is about 
four feet deep ; we measured across by trigonometry 
and found it to be about fifteen rods Avdde. After 
we came away, Landon told us he saw two men in 
a canoe on the opposite shore, and called them to 
him. They told him they had Ijeen at work there 
(about fifty rods down the river, on the Pennsylva- 
nia side,) three years; that the salt springs were 
about eighteen miles up the river, and they were 
then going there to make salt; they had not got 
their families on yet, but should ere long; that 
about twelve miles below the line, on Big Beaver 
river, there was an excellent set of mills, and about 
twenty-five miles below the line, there was a town 
building rapidly, where provisions of every kind 
could be procured, and from thence carried 1 )y water 
up the Big Beaver into the heart of the Connecticut 
Beserve. There are no falls to the source ; and it 
is but sixty miles from the line down to Pittsburgh. 
Below the town, and above Pittsburgh, there are 
falls, and a carrying place of two miles. The Big 
Beaver falls into the Allegheny twenty-five miles 
beloAV Pennsylvania line. The stream we crossed 
before is the Little Beaver, and joins with the 



MEET WITH SETTLERS. 201 

otliei's. This information we did not get till we had 
got three miles south of the river, else we should 
have sent down to the mills. On the forty-second 
mile, where we encamped, we heard an ox bell and 
a smaller one off to our right hand, and several of 
our men went in search of it, suj^posing there might 
be inhabitants, but as they descended the hill they 
lost the sound, and returned without discovering 
anything, but our conjectures proved true, the men 
told Landon that there was a family living there on 
the Little Beaver. Thursday afternoon Ave arrived 
at the corner, and prepared to make an observation 
of the polar star for the variation of compass. The 
next day Mr. Porter and Pease fixed the quadrant 
for an observation of the sun at noon. The day 
was fair and their observation was good. In the 
evening we again took the variation by the star, and 
Mr. Pease observed several of the stars for the lati- 
tude. After comparing observations they make the 
latitude to be forty-one degrees twenty seconds 
north. We set a large square oak post, on which 
is July 23d, 1796, north side. 

Saturdaij July 23<:/.— Mr. Warrejnt, with a party 
of thirteen, arrived last evening. Saturday after, 
noon Mr. Porter went down to the corner, and set a 
chestnut post, sixteen inches by twelve, on the south 
side is latitude forty-one degrees north, variation 
one minute twenty-one seconds east, west side is 

south-east corner New Connecticut. — July 23d 1796, 
14 



202 FIEST FOLTK EANGES. 

on north side, sixty-eiglit miles Lake Erie ; east side, 
Pennsylvania. 

Sunday inoi'niiKj^ July 24:fh, 17^0. — I took nine 
days' provisions and live hands, and am to start as 
soon as possible with a line for the Lake shore. 

This morning Mr. Pouter, Stoddakd and Landon, 
set ont to go down the Big Beaver in search of pro- 
visions ; took with them two days' allowance for 
three hands." 

Tims after they had distributed themselves along 
the l)ase line, Holley ran uj) the first range line, 
Spaffoed the second, Wakren the third, and Pease 
and Porter the fourth. The compasses did not 
work together. Some of their meridian lines con. 
verged, while others diverged, causing a variation t)f 
half a mile before reaching the Lake. When the 
ci'oss lines were run, these differences were found to 
be very material. 

The early surveys of the Government of the 
United States were conducted in the same mannei-, 
but it was soon found necessary, in using an instru- 
ment subject to so many fluctuations as the ordinary 
comj^ass, to make a correction of each township line 
before proceeding to the next. This is done by run- 
nino; a random line across the north end of each 
township and correcting back. By the system em- 
ployed on the Western Reserve, the townships were 
not equal in quantity. 



COMMITTEE ON PAKTITION. 203 

FUESH POWERS GIVEN TO THE AGENT AND SUR- 
VEYORS. 

Hartford, August 26, 1796. 

Moses Cleaveland, Esq. — Sir : — The Board of 
Directors think it advisable, expecting the measure 
\vin be aj^proved by the Company at their meeting 
in October, to recj[uest that you, Mr. Stow, Mr. Porter 
and the other four surveyors, ^vill consider yourselves 
a committee to divide the lands in the Western Re- 
serve, according to the mode of partition determined 
upon by the Company in April. And to effect this 
you will perhaps judge it expedient, to postpone 
surveying any of the lots in the six townships for 
the present, however, this must be left for you to 
decide upon. 

In case the surveys can be completed so far this 
summer, as that partition can be made according to 
the mode pointed out, it is the particular wish of the 
Directors, that this be done in preference to anything 
else. If partition can l)e made in the course of the 
ensuing winter, it will essentially forward the settle- 
ment of the lands, and be of very considerable advan- 
tage to the proprietors. 

If you are of opinion that this object can be 
accomplished, it will be necessary to obtain informa- 
tion in regard to the quality of the lands in the 
different townships. The mode of partition agreed 
to by the Company in April, will determine you 
what steps are necessary to be taken in this business. 



204 INDUCE3IENTS TO SETTLERS. 

The mode of ])ai'tition and the articles of agreement 
entered into with Gen. Hull, so far as they relate to 
the excess, must be particularly attended to. And 
unless the lines of the whole territory can be run, so 
as to ascertain the quantity of the excess, no parti- 
tion at present can be made. This we conceive may 
be done, by running a line from the north-east bound- 
ary upon lake Erie, to the river Cuyahoga, and from 
thence taking a traverse^ and continuing the line upon 
the lake to the noiih-west boundary, making one 
hundred and twenty miles. 

In fespect to the five townships, which the Direc- 
tors Avere authorized to sell by the constitution, so 
many of them as remain unsold, we believe would be 
well for you to dispose of to best advantage, having 
particular regard to actual settlement being made ; 
and the greater nmnber of actual settlers the 'inore 
for the interests of the company. And in respect to 
the township in which by the constitution the first 
settlements are to l)e made, and which was to be 
surveyed into small lots, and those lots sold and 
disposed of to actual settlers only, we are of the 
opinion that the sales made to any one settler, ought 
not to exceed one hundred and fifty or two hundred 
acres; and that not more than one half of the town- 
ship be disposed of at present. And in case of your 
making sales of any of said lots, to sell only to 
actual settlers. These communications are not 
intended to interfere with any engagements which 



THE EQUALIZATION. 205 

you or Mr. Pouter m;iy have made \n-'u)V to tlie 
reception of this letter. 

The knowledge which you, and the surveyors liave 
obtained of the Western Keserve, will enable you 
nuich more readily to equalize the townships, tliau 
any other person. If a committee were to go on to 
tlui territory next spring, it would take the whole 
summer for them, to obtain the information you are 
possessed of in respect to the land, and would, at 
the same time, occasion one yeai''s delay in the set- 
tlement, use and sale of them. 

Should the capital town, viz: the town ordered 
])y the constitution to be surveyed into small lots, 
not be surveyed this season, it can be done early 
next spring. The princi})al object of attention at 
present seems to l)e, to make partition of the Keserve 
as soon as possible. 

If equalizing the townships cannot be done this 
season, it will take most of next summer to effect it, 
and at very considerable expense. Of course, none 
of the lands will be sold, and those persons, who are 
now so engaged to j)urchase and settle in the Ke- 
serve, will look out for settlements elsewhere, which 
will probably depreciate the value of the lands. 

In the mode of partition it is ordered that four 
of the best townships, be surveyed into lots of one 
hundi^ed to a township, tfec. This can be dispensed 
with this year, and a division of the rest be made. 
These four townships can be surveyed into lots next 



200 THE MERIDIANS COMMENCED. 

spring, and a division tlien take place consistent 
witli tlie mode of division. 

Please to write ns on the snl\]ect of tliis letter, as 
soon as you can with convenience. 

We are, sir, with sentiments of esteem, 
Yours, 

Oliver Phelps, 
Henry Champion, 2d. 
EoGER Newberry. 

IIolley's experience in running one of the merid- 
ians will serve as a description of the others, wliich 
cannot be given in a more interesting form, tlian in 
the language of his own field liooks, omitting the 
immaterial pcn'tions. 

''Monday, July 2S(l, 1700.— Left the south line of 
New Connecticut with Paekek, Hamilton, Gkay 
and Davenport, from the first five mile post, north 
on variation one degree forty seconds east. 

Friday, 'iMli. — Nineteenth mile: encamped in 
consequence of rain. M'Inty're came up and 1 )r()ught 
some bear's meat, which he dried ; dry venison and 
fiour. 

Monday, A(/y. Ls/. — Rainy and cloudy. Sent otf 
M'Intyre for provisions to Conneaut. 

Aiff/. 2d. — Thirty-fourth mile. Took variation, 
(night of 2d and od.) Cloudy ; observation l)ad ; 
my eyes sore ; variation two degrees twenty-three 
seconds. Was oldiged to trust to Parker to see 
the star and line; dare not run on it; ran on one 



THEIR PROGRESS. 207 

degree thirty-seven seconds, T)eing tliat of the Penn- 
sylvania line opposite. 

Aug. 5th. — Forty-sixth mile; encamped; cloudy; 
could not get the variation. M'Intyre came to us 
with provisions, and was most joyfully received, as 
we were then eating our last dinner but one. 

Aug. Sth. — Sixtieth mile; at night took variation, 
one degree fifty-three seconds east. 

Aug. lOfJf. — Sixty-sixth mile; came to the bank 
of the Lake at forty-eight chains 50 links. Set a 
chestnut 2>ost twelve inches square, marked south 
side, sixty-five miles, forty-eight chains fifty links, 
etc. * " " 

Just as Ave were starting for Conneaut, we saw a 
large party coming along the beach, and supposing 
them to be Indians, and having only a gill of rum 
left in our bottle, we were hurrying to a spring to 
drink it before they could come up, and tease us for 
it. But to our astonishment, we found them to be 
two of the parties of surveyors coming in together. 

Porter and Pease had run their line through to 
the Lake with all speed, and came to where Spaf- 
ford and Stoddard struck the Lake, just as they 
were cutting the last tree. We had a most joyful 
meeting, and had not proceeded far before we met 
Esquire Warren and his I3arty, returning to bring 
up their line, which they had left seventeen miles 
from where they started out. Altogether they had 
what Avas supposed to be fJ/ij'ffeii days' provisions. 



208 SET OUT YOU CLEVELAND. 

This meeting was not so cordial as tlie other had 
been. 

We arrived at Conneaut two hours before sun- 
down, and stayed until we had eaten the fjxtted 
calf." 

While the four parties were engaged in running 
up the first four meridians, Cleaveland, after con- 
ciliating the Indians, made an excursion to the site 
of the future city, which should bear his name. He 
reached here on the 2 2d of July. All of the party 
must have felt unusually interested, as they ap- 
proached the spot. Not one of them had seen the 
placu. 

As they coasted close along the shore, overhung 
by a dense green forest, mirrored in the waters over 
which they were passing, the mouth of the river 
disclosed itself, as a small opening, between low 
banks of sand. The man who controls the party, is 
seated in the stern, steering his own craft; which is 
gracefully headed into the stream. 

His complexion was so swarthy, his figure so 
square and stout, and his dress so rude; that the 
Indians supposed some of the blood of their race 
had crept into his veins. 

Joshua Stow was probably at this time in this 
pioneer boat. As they passed into the channel, and 
the broad river unfolded itself to their view ; bor- 
dered T)y marshes, reeds, and coarse grass; their 
anticipations must have been somewhat moderated. 



TIIEY ENTER TJIE CUYAHOGA. 201) 

The Hats on tlie west side, and tlie densely wooded 
Iduffs on the east, did not present a cheerful prospect 
for a city. They were confined to the eastern shore, 
by their agreement w4th the Indians at Buffalo, and 
at Conneaut. 

It was necessary to proceed some distance along 
this shore, l>efore there was solid ground enough to 
effect a landing. As the Indians had, from genera- 
tion to generation, kept open a trail along the mar- 
gin of the lake, it is probable that Cleaveland's 
party, scanning with sharp eyes every object as they 
rowed along the river, saw where the aboriginal 
highway descended the hill, along what is now Union 
Lane. Here they came to the bank, and scrambling 
out, trod for the first time the soil of the new city. 
While the boat was being unloaded, the agent had 
an opportunity to mount the bluff, and scan the 
surroundino; land. This view must have revived his 
enthusiasm, more than the swamps along the river 
had dej)ressed it. A young growth of oaks, with 
low bushy tops, covered the ground. Beneath them 
were thrifty bushes, rooted in a lean, but dry and 
pleasant soil, highly favorable to the object in view. 
A smooth and even field sloped gently towards the 
lake, whose blue waters could be seen extending to 
the horizon. His imagination doubtless took a par- 
donable flight into the future, when a great commer- 
cial town, should take the place of the stinted forest 
growth, which the northen tempests had nearly 



''210 t'IRST CABINS ERECTED. 

destroyed. But whatever may have been his an- 
ticipations, the reality has outstrip2:)ed them all. 
Such a combination of natural beauty, with natural 
advantages of business, is rarely witnessed ; to which 
have been added, what the surveyors could not 
have foreseen, artificial aids to commerce then un- 
known. 

It is not certainly known, but probably Stiles, 
and perhaps his wife, were of this party. Enough 
men were left to put up a store house for the sup- 
plies, and a caljin for the accommodation of the 
surveyors. These rude structures were located a 
short distance south of St. Clair street, west of 
Union lane, at a spring on the side hill, in rear of 
Scott's warehouse. During the season, a cabin was 
put up for Stiles, on Lot 53, east side of Bank 
street, north of the Herald Building, where Morgan 
&> Koot's Block is now being erected. Thus was the 
settlement of the city commenced. 

By authorities, which will be given hereafter, it 
will be seen, that houses had before this l)een built 
by white people, near the mouth of the river ; but 
not for the purpose of permanent settlement. Col. 
James Hillman avers, that he put up a small cabin 
on the east side of the riv^r in 1780, near the foot of 
Superior street, of which, however, nothing further 
is known. Sometime previous to 1787, a party who 
were wrecked, upon a British vessel, between one 
and two miles east of the I'iver, built an hut, large 



teARLV Trading houses. 211 

enougli to shelter tliemselves, through one winter. 
On the west side of the river, a log store house was 
erected, prior to 1^786, to protect the flour which was 
brought here from Pittsburg, on the way to Detroit. 
This building, in a dilapidated state, was standing 
in 1797, when it was occupied awhile by James 
Kingsbury and his family. 

Some cabins were erected during the summer near 
the shore, beyond Euclid creek, Avhich are noticed in 
the journals of Holley and Pease. The design and 
origin of this embryo settlement, is not yet well 
understood. No one is known to have remained 
there during the winter of 1796-7. 

A Frenchman is reported to have l)een at San- 
dusky, not as a settler but a trader. At that time 
proceeding west of Buffalo ; the first white inhal)- 
itants on the south shore of lake Erie were located 
at Erie, Pa. ; the next, the families of Gun and 
Kingsbury, at Conneaut; and the last and only 
other settlers, on this bleak wilderness coast were 
Stiles and his wife, at Cleveland, with whom 
Edward Paine was domiciled as a boarder. 

The "Excess Company" must have leased their 
hopes of territory ujion the map of Evans, which 
represented the south shore of the lake as bearing too 
much westerly. If it had proved to be true, that 
from the north-east corner of the Reserve ; the coast 
line was nearly west, their expected surjilus might 
have been realized. Had the English military expe- 



212 SURVEY OF FOUR PARALLELS. 

ditions, carried instruments for astronomical oliser- 
vatious, tliis great error would liave been avoided. 

The surveyors were directed to fix this coast line 
in 1796, not by observations but by a traverse of 
the shore, made by chain and compass. This work 
was entrusted to Mr. Porter, under the supervision 
of General Cleaveland. West of the Cuyahoga, it 
was to be executed without the consent of the 
Indians, which rendered the undertaking somewhat 
hazardous. 

They now immediately commenced the traverse 
of the lake shore. Porter acting as surveyor, meas- 
uring westward along the coast; in order to find 
where the west line of the Reserve would intersect 
lake Erie. Warren, Pease, Spafford, and Holley 
again took to the woods, in order to run some paral- 
lels westward, from the Pennsylvania line to the 
Cuyahoga river. Warren had the town line 
between Nos. six and seven. Range one. (Vernon 
and Kinsman.) Pease between towns seven and 
eight ; Spafford and Stoddard between towns eight 
and nine, and Holley, between towns nine and ten, 
or the townships of Hanover and Richmond, Ashta- 
bula county. The extracts which I shall give, from 
the memoranda of Holley and Atwater ; detail the 
movements of the surveyors so fully, dui-ing the 
season, that it will not be necessary to notice them 
particularly. The parallels they were now running 
should bring them out near the mouth of the Cuya- 



MISTAKES AT THE CHAGRIN. 213 

hoga, the line between seven and eiglit passing 
through the city of Cleveland. In order to keep 
strict faith with the Indians, they were directed not 
to cross the Cuyahoga river, to cut any trees, or 
make any marks, on the west side. All of the 
parties when they reached the Chagrin river, sup- 
posed they were at the Cuyahoga. The best maps 
they could procure had no river upon them, between 
the Grand river and the Cuyahoga. The surveyors 
were sorely perj)lexed on encountering this stream, 
and proceeded down it to the lake. 

Much discussion has taken place upon the origin 
of the name of the Chagrin river. Thomas Hutchins 
in his " Topographical Description of Virginia, Penn- 
sylvania, tfec," in 1778, notices a stream by the name 
of " Shaguin," which is said to mean in some Indian 
language, the "clear water." On Hutchens' map 
of 1764, no important streams are given between 
the "Cyahoga" and Presque Isle. It is thus not 
easy to determine what river is meant by the Sha- 
guin. The surveyors all speak of it as then known, 
as the Chagrin. Grand river is a name evidently of 
French origin, its Indian name being " Sheauga," from 
whence the term Geauga is derived, by a very natu- 
ral corruption. . It is highly probable that Chagrin 
is a title given by the French traders, to this stream 
from some accident or suffering, such as occurred at 
Misery river, of lake Superior. 



SURVEY OF THE PARALLELS, 

AND 

SOME OF THE TOWNSIIirS. 



FROM IIOLLEY'S JOURNAL, 1706. 

Coiiiieaut^ f^atui'daij Mormmj^ -J-'^y- 13^/^ — 
Pease's, Spafford's and my own company, left and 
Aveut to my line, and down it, to onr several places, 
to start lines for tlie Ciiyalioga. Pease, Spaffokd 
and myself stayed a little longer at Conneaut, and 
not meeting soon enough, we were obliged to go 
without dinner. Before night, they came up with 
us, and we encamped that night and the next 
together. Early in the morning of the 15th, which 
was Monday, I left my forty-five mile post, for the 
Pennsylvania line. 

Ran east to the Pennsylvania line with Parker, 
Shepard, Hamilton, Hacket, Forbes, and Daven- 
port, Pennsylvania line, at five miles, nineteen chains, 
fifty links; four chains eighty-eight links north of 
the twenty- third mile post (from the lake). 



ilt> rUKY KIN \Vb:si\VVUl\ 

T^mht/. .l.iy. U>M, Kan wost tVvnii tort \ till h 

AuiL^^L — -FortY-i^ixth inilont t'ortv vluiiiis, oiiihtv 
liuks^ n vivoi\ svipposo<l tv^ bo tho (.'uyahoiia, sun two 
lunu's high, Paukkk aiul luvsolt* sot otV dvwvu {\w 
nvoi\ to tiiul sv>nio marks whoiv IVuiKU had boon 
ahmu*. \vont thiw mUos hi t)io rain: m^ marks woiv 
tv> \»o tlniuvl : I svippostnl thoy hail not boon up tho 
river, Init fh^m ovory ohvmustatut* thought it uiust 
W tho OuvahoiTJU aud dotormiuod to boiiin tlio trn- 
voi'st* in tho morning. 

\\Wnr\<iio»/^ Am/, :J4m, iiogau tho tnuoi'so ot* tho 
Ouyahogt\, as wo supivstnl. AVo liail vx^uph't od 
about tivo mih^s, whon wo woiv vwortakou by II mi. 
and MiNsoN, who had Ihvu in soaivh v^t* us, suppos- 
ing* wo miijht mistako tho rivor. who toUl us tliat it 
waj» not the Cuyahoga, but tlio Chagrin, and that 
tViond IVktku was in tho mouth ot* it. waiting to 
supply \is witli pnwisions. 

As soon as I hoai\l this I h*t"l tho travoi-so, and 
trjivoltnl about thi\HM\nartors of a miK\ whon wo 
oamo to tho lako, a littU> oast otVPou tkkV onoampmont. 
Wo mot with ghnd hoarts, 'Hio s.'Uuo night a tair 
w itid sprung up, auvl rouiKU, w ith his party, h^tt us 
tor Cuyahog\a, to supply Pkask w ith pi\n isivms. 

'rh(trfnht(/s Adtj. ^oM. — Lott thonivHith otH'hagrin 
rivor. At twolvo oVhn'k, trtuoUnl up to \\ horo I liit 
tho rivor tirst, thou tollowod my lino baok to tho 
tbrtioth miU^ stako. 



IIMLM'^V mN 'UN', 'lOWN MM'X, 



'J 1 7 



■ I '/'J. -'l///. IJ.iii ii<-rtli on ;i, in;i;.'ii('l i<* cowvhc I'oi' 
IIm- l;i,kc. 

,1/^'/. L'V///. Seven niileHj Hi.\l,y-(,\V'» elmin,-;^ lifly 
linlvH, cn-nx; to t lie |;il;<'. Il'-I iirne(| |., (Im- live mih; 
post,. 

AV/z/cA/y, J'///. 2>S///,, SI,;iI'1-<mI m lin(t (<';i.kIj from ;i. 
live mWc poHt, hcUveen V.iM'ii'.H el;^';lii ;(n<l nine^ ;in<l 
lifly miles IVoni IIk; hoiiIJi line, v;u'i;i,l,ion one <l<"i(<-, 
lil'ly-Hix niiniileH (MiHt. 

.\//'/. '.'A)lli. Tliii-lecnt li loil'-. No niHHfjuiloes or 
^iiuIh i<> plujj;;ii(! iih, 

Moiiddij^ SrpL ^)lJi^ WM'u I'ennHylvjini,'!. Iin<'- Jii, 
tliirl-y-nine miles sixty <;}niins ;ui<l <;i;.^lity-nin<! links. 
Ki'om tlieiiee tr;iv(^le<l to (/onri<*;iiit, jumI 'avv'wcA sun 
;il)onl, two lioni'H lii'jli. W«' lonn'l lli;i.t Mon-ieni' 
TlNKKi;, li;i(| not ff-l nrnecl willi tlie l>o;i.f, fVoni "(iciiin- 
<lient," mikI j\Ir. Slow li;i<l l;iken ;ill jjiovisions ;in<l 
stonjs of i'.wvy kin'l, e\e(;j)t some, I'cw ,'ij'tiel<fs of li( ( K; 
(;ons(;(jii<!Ji(;<?, jjneked I hem np mikI e,'irri(;<l tliejii i,o 
t}j(! Ih^juO) to ii'o on l)o;ii(| IIm' ho;t.t for (/iiyulio^^n,. 

lie, |i;i(| hie(| in v;iln I wiee, to lo;i(| (lie hojit, in 
(•onse(|l|ene(' of wllieli I s;i W' llim, .'lll'l foi|||(| li*; |i;i(| 
hift ;i.l)oiit seveiity-lK e poiiiiHs pork, ;ui(| other j<ro- 
visioiis in j)i'<)portion. I learned from liim tlint ;if(<;r 
mor<! sei'ioiis eoiisi<ler;itioii. Ml*. I'ou'iKii lia(J <|(;t<;r- 
niiiied lo ;ilter his first pl;in of doini^ the, siirvoyirig, 
wliieh w;is, for nie l<> (inisli the, lines n<*rth of tlic 
one I Ii;mI run vv(;st, wliieh would eontiniK; to ^/row 
shorter, the other surveyors to eomj)l<;te (he lon^ 



218 ADVENTURERS COMING WEST. 

lines to tlie south. But as the season is so far 
advanced, they could not possibly do this and lot the 
towns on the Cuyahoga, that was necessary. It was 
concluded that Pease, Spafford, and Stoddard 
should run short lines till Porter could complete 
the traverse of the lake, west of the Cuyahoga^ and 
I bring up my line. Then we are all to l)egin u])on 
the towns that are to be settled, some upon the city 
lots, and others upon that for farms to be sold this 
fall. 

Tuesday^ Sept. 6th. — The wind is so favorable this 
morning that Mr. Stow, loaded his boat, and started 
for Cuyahoga. Just as he was loading Mr. Hum- 
phrey, fi'om the New Town settlement, in the 
Genesee purchase came up with a boat and several 
men, all proceeding to Cuyahoga, and if proper 
encouragement was held out, wei'e determined to 
become settlers. Some persons were with him from 
Susquehannah, west branch. 

One of them who was rather unwell, stayed at 
Conneaut, and informed me that about two weeks 
before, he saw jA]\rES Campbell, and that he was 
hearty, and in profitable business, surveying about 
the head waters of the west branch of Susquehan- 
nah, and on the Allgheny mountains. Also West 
and ScHOFiELD. 

Thursday, Sept. 8th. — Left " Conneaut," to run a 
line to the lake, and then through to Cuyahoga. 



ARRIVES AT CUYAHOGA. 219 

ISept. ^dth. — Traveled south to the fifty-fifth mile 
post and I'aii east to the Pennsylvania line, five 
miles, twenty-nine chains, and fifty Imks. 

Sept. 10th. — Ran west from my fifty-fifth mile 
post. 

Sept. 11th. — Thirteenth mile (from Pennsylvania 
line) variation one degree, thirty minutes. 
' Sej)t. 12th. — Came to Warren's line, twenty 
chains and thirty-eight links south of his fifty-fifth 
mile post. 

/Sept. lUh. — Thirtieth mile complete, ranges six 
and seven, ran north to lake, (magnetic) two miles, 
fourteen chains, eighty-three links. 

Se2}t. 16th. — Traveled on the beach towards Cuya- 
hoga. Ate dinner at Grand river. Encamped a 
little east of the Chagrin river ; HAMiLTOisr, the cook, 
was very cross and lazy — was on the point of not 
cooking any supper because the bark would not peal, 
and he knew of nothing to make bread upon, Daven- 
port wet some in the bag. 

Encamped Sept. 10th, about three miles east of 
Cuyahoga — rained and blew very hard towards day. 

Saturday^ Sept. 17th. — Traveled to the mouth of 
the river, and after searching considerable time found 
our friends encamped a little way up the river. 
Stormy in the afternoon and evening. Variations, 
Porter's compass varied one degree, thirty-seven 
minutes, seven miles up on the fourth meridian, one 
degree, forty-two minutes at commencement of the 



220 OUT OF PROVISIONS. 

tliirty-iiintli mile, same meridian at the nineteentli 
mile. Down the Pennsylvania line Mr. Porter's 
com])ass and mine varied alike fifty- three minutes 
east, Spafford's ten minutes less. 

42d mile down Penii. line, IIolley's compass was 1° 40' E. 



" rOKTEll's 


u 


u ^o 


35' E. 


" Spafford 


S '' 


u ]_o 


35' E. 


At the S. E. t'or. or Keserve Porter's 


u 


u ^o 


21' E. 


" Hglley's 


ii 


u ^o 


40' E. 


At 33| miles up 1st merid. " 


u 


il, i)0 


23' 


u u u u 




ran at 1° 


37' 


" 35ms.51dis. " '' " 


comi^ass was 2° 


15' 


ii. U (.i u 




ran at 2° 


00' 


" 60 miles 1st merid. " 


comi)ass was 1° 


53' 


Nine miles up his merid. (2d) Spafford'S " 


U -1 O 


27' 


2<)j. " u tt 


u 


tt 1 o 


23' 


50 ms. 60 chs. " 


u 


tc ^ o 


20' 


Ran from Spafford's line at 1° 30' E. from P 


orter's 




4t]i meridian and to (/iivahoira at 




]° 


50' 



Wednesdai/, /Se/)t. 21sf. — At twelve o'clock, M., we 
packed up everything, and embarked on board the 
boat for Conneaut, in consecpience of not having jn-o- 
visions to stay any longer. We had not a mouthful 
of meat when we went away, part of a barrel of flour, 
a bag of flour and two cheeses, and some chocolate, 
constituted our provisions, (about 30 in number). 
The two boats and the bark canoe carried us. We 
had a fair wind, and had sailed about eight miles, 
when we discovered Hall & Co., on the beach ^vith 
the cattle. We then went ashore, and found by them 



f^tJESUIT OF A BEAR. 22 1 

that Tinker had arrived at Coniieaut with provisions. 
Esquire Warrei^ also was there. He sent on two 
of his men with two horses loaded with flour. Him- 
self and other hands waited to come with Tinker, 
when the wind shoidd be favorable. This news 
cheered us up exceedingly, and we returned to Cuya- 
hoga with much lighter hearts than we left it. It 
was dark when we came to the mouth of the river, 
and we discovered a fire lighted on the opposite shore. 

Just as we entered, Parker fired a gun. As we 
passed we saluted the people, and found that they 
were Indians, from Grand River, who had been west, 
hunting. We eat a mouthful of supper, and went to 
bed. 

Began to lot the east part of Cuyahoga town, at 
two and a half miles from the east line, at a corner, 
on the line that Stoddard ran west into said town. 

Thursday^ Se])t. 2'2d. — Left Cuyahoga, to lot the 
east part of the township) with Shepherd and Spaf- 
FORD. The day before we started from Cuyahoga, we 
discoved a ])ear swimming across the river. Porter 
and myself jumped into a canoe, and paddled after 
him, while another man went with a gun up the 
shore. But there was such a noise and hallooing, 
tliat the bear swam back and escaped. Munson 
caught a rattle snake, which we broiled and ate. 

Swnday^ Sept. 25th. — ^This day have been troubled 
with a dysentery, on account of living upon fresh 
beef 



^2'2'2 SUKVEYvS IK i\ieNto1?. 

Sept. i>(V/^— Lots 40l\ 44,S, 450, 451. Davenpokt 
Aveiit in after ])i'ovisious, aud came back just as I was 
seated to copy my minutes, and to my great satisfac- 
tion brouglit me a letter from my tatlier, and one from 
Myron. Tliis I put down as a circumstance afford- 
ing me as much pleasure as anytliihg tliat lias taken 
place since I began surveying. 

Wednesdcn/j jSq)f. ^Stli. — I carved upon a beecli 
tree in Cuyahoga town, " Myron Holley', Jr.," and 
on a birch, ''Milton Holley, 179G, — Sept. 2()th, 
1700. Friendship." 

jSafu/'diii/j Oct. 1st. — I left Cuyahoga in the boat, 
to run out several tracts of land in No. 10 range, 
nine for Capt. Perry and Mr. Mara'in, INIr. IIick- 
OCK, Mr. Rose, and Phelps tt Co. Encamped at 
Chagrin river. Gen. Cleaveland, Stow, and fifteen 
others came to us in another boat. 

Simdai/, Oct. '2(1. — AVent east to the east line of 
the toAvnship, run south, etc. After running out 
the com])any lands, Holley' took his old line at the 
Chao-riu river and ran it west between towns nine 
and ten to the lake, at forty-nine miles thii-ty-seven 
chains five links. 

Oct. StJi. — Started down the beach to mouth of 
Chagrin river, and found our boat and pro\^sions. 
Had a fair wind al)out half "way to the Cuyahoga, 
and rowed the remainder. Arrived at the river 
al)out eight o'clock in the evening ; found all well. 



TIIF.Y CLOSE TIIP] SEASON". 223 

Mowlaij, Oct. \m, 1, r. M.— Left Cleveland at 
tlie iiioiitli of the Cuyahoga to finish lotting the 
eastern ])art of said townshij). Siieimikd and At- 
WATEK, chaininen, Landon, axnian, PAiiKEit, ilagnian, 
and IIanc'iiet, cook. 

Tlmrxdaif^ Oct. VMIi. — Encani])ed for the night; 
had root water. 

Saturdai/^ Oct. \^)t}i. — Lay still in consequence of 
rain. 

Oct. IGth. — Lots three hundred and eighty-iiA^e, 
three hnndred and eighty-seven, three hundred and 
ninety -four, and three hundred and ninety -five. 
Came to cam}) in consec^uence of hard rain ; found 
no fire; were all wet and cold, hut after pushing 
a])out the hottle and getting a good fire and su])i)er, 
we were as merry as grigs. 

Monday., Oct. 17 th. — Lots three hundred and 
ninety -one and three hundred and ninety -nine. 
Capt. Pekiiy took ahout four pounds of beef, and 
ate with us four days. 



. 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF AMZI ATWATEB. 



BY L. V. BIERCE, ESQ., OP AKRON. 



"Died, at Mantua, Portage county, on tlie 2 2d 
day of June, 1851, Amzi Atwatee, aged seventy- 
six years and one montli." 

Sucli is tlie brief notice that announces to tlie 
world the death of the last survivor of the first ex- 
ploring expedition on the Reserve. 

Judge Atwateii was born at New Haven, Con- 
necticut, on the 23d of May, 1776. His parents 
were poor, and unable to give him anything more 
than an ordinary education. Ushered into life in 
the early part of the Revolutionary war, and in 
that part of the colonies most exposed to the in- 
cursions of the enemy, his lulaby was the boom- 
ing of artillery, or the rattling of musketry. On 
the defeat of the Americans on Long Island, in 1776, 
when Amzi was but three months old, his father was 
called out with the militia for the defense of New 



226 IIIS EDUCATiOT*r. 

York, from wliicli lie returned sick, and with a con- 
stitutiou hroken. When ohl enoiigli, young At- 
WATER was sent to school, where he ol)tained a little 
knowledge of reading, writing and arithmetic. So 
straightened were his parents' circumstances, that he 
was hired out to work by the day, week or month, 
as opportunities oifered, till he was a man. At the 
age of eighteen his father hired him out to work 
for an uncle, for sixty dollars a year, who transfered 
him over to a man by the name of Watson. "At 
the end of the year," says Judge Atwateti in a 
letter now before me, " my parents gave me my time 
with their good advice and blessing." He then 
hired to Watson" for seven months, at eight dollars 
a month, but he died before that term expired. 
Being out of employment young Atwater went to 
Westfield, in Massachusetts, to visit his uncle Rev. 
Noah Atwater, who was in the habit of teaching 
mathematics to a class of young men. He invited 
young Atwater to come and study with him the 
ensuing winter, which he did. Here he learned the 
art of surveying, in company with Warham Shep- 
herd, who was one of the iirst exploring party on 
the Reserve. In the minutes of that expedition, 
Warham Shepherd and Ajmzi Atwater are called 
"Explorers' Assistants." At this school a friend- 
ship was formed between them that lasted till the 
death of Shepherd, 



SLTRVEYS in Tllte itOLLAND miRCIIASE. 22^ 

In April, 1796, being then nineteen years of age, 
young Atwater left Connecticut, on foot and alone, 
witli a heavy knapsack on his back, to meet his 
friend Shepherd at Ontario county. New York, with 
whom he remained until the agents of the Connecti- 
cut land company, were ready to commence their 
survey, when he left for the then unknown west. 
He joined them at Canandaigua, June 13, 1706. 

His business was to collect cattle, and pack horses, 
with which he went all the way by land. 

Having served as chainman, drover, and assistant 
surveyor faithfully through the year 1796, he 
returned in the spring of 1797 as one of the assistant 
surveyors. 

The last of the surveyors left the Reserve the fore 
part of November, 1797, for the most part a sorry, 
sickly looking set of lieings, the very reverse of what 
they were in the spring. 

In 1798-99, Judge Atwater was in the employ 
of the Holland Land Company, in the western part 
of New York, and assisted in running nearly all the 
township lines. In the fall of 1799 he returned to 
Connecticut, and spent the winter with his uncle, in 
study. 

In 1800, in company with his brother Jotiiam, he 
came to Mantua, and made a permanent settlement 
on the farm where he died. 

In 1808, on the organization of Portage county, he 
was elected one of the Associate Judges, and subse- 



f228 HIS VIEW OF HIS LIFE. 

qnently held many pul^lic trusts, siieli as his neigh- 
l^ors urged upon him, but which he did not covet. 
He chose retirement, and in the Language of his old 
friend, Abeam Tappan, of Ashtabula, " his disposi- 
tion was mild, and he was honest to a proverb." 

In a letter to Mr. Tappaist, written March 24th, 
1851, Judge Atwater says — 

"I need not say much how I have run tlie line of 
life. I have run through some of the swamps of ad- 
versity, and over many of the plains of prosperity. 
My assistants have generally been cheerful, and I 
may say faithful. My provisions hold out well, and 
perhaps I have enough to carry me through to the 
end of my line, which I have good reason to believe 
will soon be completed." 

EXTRACTS FROM THE DIARY OF AMZI ATWATER, 

1796. 

Arrived at Stow Castle at the mouth of Conneaut 
river September 14th, there we heard that the other 
companies were a part of them at the Cuyahoga, and 
that the Cuyahoga river, was fifteen miles west of 
the one we had followed to the lake, supposing it to 
be the Cuyahoga. A boat was at Conneaut going 
to carry provisions to the other companies at Cuya- 
hoga. We prepared to go on the same, but before 
We could get the Ijoat out of the creek, it was so 
near night that we concluded to stay until morning. 
The wind was so high for several days that we could 



CLEVELAND TOWNSHIP, 229 

not go. On the 18tli of Septeinl)er four of us were 
sent to Cuyalioga T)y land, two leading tlie pack 
horses loaded with Hour, and the other two driving 
tlie cattle. When we were within six or seven miles 
of Cuyahoga, we saw Ijoats coming from there with 
the other comi^any in them. They had spent so 
much of their provisions that they thought it Ijest 
not to stay there any longer, but when they met us 
they returned to Cuyahoga, The next day after we 
got there, I w\as sent witli Mr. Stoddard to survey 
the south-east part of the township of Cleveland, 
No. 7, in the twelfth range, in one hundred acre lots, 
Avhicli ^vill l)e found to vary very much in size. 
There "were two other parties in the east j^art of the 
township, under Major Spaffokd and Mr, Holley. 
We stayed in the to^vnship about two weeks, and 
then returned to the house at the mouth of the 
Cuyahoga river. When we arrived at the house, I 
was sent with Mr. Pease to run out a part of the 
city plat. We were two or three days in finishing 
this, when aljout one-half of the company was dis- 
missed. 

MEMORANDA OF ORRIN HARMON'S CONVER- 
SATION WITH AMZI ATWATER. 

Amzi At water always styled the proprietors of 
Euclid as mutineers. He has minutely narrated to 
me the circumstances of the mutiny. They mutinied 
on their first arrival at Conneaut. The sale of the 



230 THE ^lUTINY. 

township of Euclid, was a part of the compromise 
made then l)y Cleaveland and Pokter. The or- 
ganization of the company of surveyors and men 
was of the military order, and they were enlisted 
the same as in the army, for two years, providing it 
took so long. 

PROCEEDINGS AT CLEAVELAND, SEPT. 30, 1796. 

Suhstance of a contract made at Cleaveland^ Sept. SOth, 
1796, betiveen Moses Cleaveland, a(/ent of the 
Connecticitt Land Company^ and the employees of 
the Company^ in reference to the sale and settle- 
ment of the tow7iship of Euclid, N'o. 8, in the 
eleventh Mange. — {^Frovi memoranda of Orrin 
Haemon, Esq^) 

On the part of the surveyors forty-one persons 
signed the agreement. Each party to have an e(]^ual 
share in the township, at the price of one dollar per 
acre, with interest from Sept. 1st, 1797, to remain in 
the service of the company faithfully to the end of 
the year, and to perform certain acts of settlement, 
as follows : 

To settle, in the year 1797, eleven families, buihl 
eleven houses, and sow two acres of wheat around 
each house — to be on different lots. In tlie year 
1798 to settle eighteen more families, build eigliteen 
more houses on diiferent lots, and to clear and sow 
live acres of wheat on each. There must be also 
fifty acres in grass in the township. 



TERMS OF SETTLEMENT. 231 

111 tlie year 1709, there must be twelve more fam- 
ilies occupying twelve more lots, (in all forty-one,) 
witli eii2:lit acres in wheat. On all the other lots 
three acres additional in wheat for this year, and in 
all seventy acres to be in grass. 

There must be, in the year 1800, forty-one families 
resident in the township. In case of failure to 2')er- 
form any of the conditions, whatever had been done 
or paid was to be forfeited to the company. But 
the failure of other parties not to affect those who 
perform. If salt springs are discovered on a lot it 
is to be excepted from the agreement, and other 
lands given instead 

To this contract are appended as witnesses, the 
names of Jeffries Marvin, and Nathan I^erry, the 
latter of whom became a resident in 1806, and died 
at Black river, October 28, 1813. 

Persons in the employ of the company who were 
not parties to this agreement : 

Amos Sawtel, Daniel Shulay, 

Nathan Chapman, Stephen Burbank, 

Samuel Barnes, Joshua Stow, 

Robert Hamilton, 

PROCEEDINGS AT A GENERAL MEETING OF THE 

EMPLOYEES OF THE LAND COMPANY HELD 

AT CLEAVELAND, SEPTEMBER 30, 1796. 

At a meeting of the proprietors of NTo. 8, in the 
eleventh range of towns in new Connecticut, held at 
the city of Cleaveland, on the 30th day of September, 



232 



LIST OF SETTLERS. 



1790, l)eiiig the surveyors and assistants employed 
in surveying the summer past the country of New 
Connecticut. 

Setii Pease chosen Moderator. 

Moses Warren chosen Clerk. 

In said meeting it was agreed, that a majority of 
votes shall govern in any question Ijefore the meet- 
ing, without contradiction. 

Voted that it be determined Ly a lottery which 
of tlie said proprietors shall do the first, second and 
tliird years settling duties, as required l)y our patent 
this day executed by Moses Cleaveland, Esq., 
director of said New Connecticut Land Company, 
without contradiction. 

The lots being drawn, it is as follo^vs : 



No. 

Setii Pease, 1 

Moses Warren, 2 

Milton IIolley, 2 

Amos Spafford, 3 

Joseph Tinker, 2 

Theodore Shepherd, 1 

Richard M, Stoddard,.- 3 

Elisha Ayer, 1 

Amzi Atwater, 1 

Samuel Agnew, 1 

Shadrach Benham, 2 

Stephen Benton, 3 

David Beard, 3 

Amos Barber, 3 

John Briant, 3 



No. 

Michael Coffin, 2 

Nathaniel Do an, 3 

Samuel Davenport, 3 

Timothy Dunham, 1 

Samuel Forbes, - - - 1 

Elijah Gun, 3 

Francis Gray, 2 

George Goodwin, 2 

Luke Hanciiet, 3 

James Hacket, 2 

James Hamilton, 2 

Samuel Hungerford, - _ - 1 

Thomas Harris, 2 

William B. Hall, 2 

Joseph Landon, 3 



WHEN THEY WERE TO SETTLE. iVJ-') 

No. No. 

John Locke, 2 Charles Parker, 2 

Asa Mason, 2 Olney F. Kice, 3 

Joseph M'Intire, 2 Wareham Shepherd, 1 

EzEKiEL Morley, 2 JoB P. Stiles, 2 

Titus V. Munson, 1 Norman Wilcox, 2 

George Proudfoot, 1 Total, 41. 

The names marked No. 1 are to do said settling 
duties in the year 1797, and the names marked No. 
2 are to do said duties in the year 1798, and the 
names marked No. 3 are to do said settling duties in 
the year 1799, agreeable to said lottery. 

A true copy of part of the proceedings of the 
proprietors' meeting. 

Examined by Moses Wareen, Jr., Clerk. 

This copy is in the hand writing of Setii Pease. 
Mr. Atwater who was one of the j^arties to this 
compact, always spoke of the transaction as a mutiny. 
There is no such mention made of it, so far as I know, 
in the papers of General Cleaveland, or of the Land 
Comj^any. If they had regarded the conduct of 
Messrs. Pease, Spafford and Warren in that liirht, 
the proprietors would not have employed them 
again in the year 1797. After a trial of three 
months, wherein they had undergone the hardships 
of forest life, they were no doubt inclined to obtain 
some additional advantages for their services. The 
Company, on their part, required an early settlement 
of their lands. 
16 



234 SALE OF CITY LOTS. 

MR. PORTER\S PLAN OF DISPOSING OF THE 
LOTS IN CLEVELAND. 

" Terms proposed by Augustus Porter, for the 
sale of the one-fourth part of the township of Cleve- 
land after, making the following reservations, to wit : 
City lots No. 58, 59, 60, 01, 62, 63, 81, 82, 83, 84, 
85, 86, 87 and the point of land west of the town, 
and also some reservations of fiats on the river if it 
should be advisable, after surveying. The aforesaid 
quarter to be selected in the following manner, to wit: 
to begin with lot No. 1, and to take every fourth 
number in succession through the town, which 
should be offered for sale on the following terms : 

" 1st. To sell to each person who would engage 
to become an actual settler in the year l7l)7, one 
town or city lot, one ten or twenty acre lot, and one 
one hundred acre lot, or two one hundred acre lots, 
or as much less as they may choose, but in all cases 
to make settlement as aforesaid. 

" 2d. The pi'ice of town lots, fifty dollars, cash in 

hand. 

10 acre lots, at $3.00 per acre, 
OQ u u u 2.00 " " 
100 " " " 1.50 " " 

" Payable 20 per centum in hand, the remainder 
in three annual payments, with annual interest from 
date. 

Sept. 28th, 1796. 

The above is in the hand writing of Amos Spafford, 



FAI.L OV [1% AND WINTER OF 17'.)T. 



What Nvas nccomplislied in 17*.)() fell short of the 
expectations of all parties, particularly of the stock- 
holders of the company. Al)oiit fourteen thousand 
dollars had l^een expended upon the expedition. 
The field books of the surveyors show i-apid ^v^ork, 
frecpiently making eight, ten, and sometimes twelve 
miles in a day. Wareen appears to have been less 
energetic than the others, however, as he was con- 
tinued in service the next year, the comj^any must 
have l)een satisfied with him. When the season 
closed, there was a large tract in which no lines had 
been run. This was all that territory east of the 
Cuyahoga, west of the foiu'th meridian and south of 
the sixth parallel. The southern boundary of the 
Reserve, had not been continued west of the fourth 
Range, that is, only to the south-west corner of Ber- 
lin. Pease had run southerly, between ranges eight 
and nine, one township below the sixth 2:)arallel, to 
the north-west corner of Town five, Ranire eig-ht, 
(Mantua,) and thence west to the Cuyahoga, on the 



236 THE SURVEYS INCOMPLETE. 

north line of Nortlifield, wliicli lie reached on the 
6th of September. 

None of the six townships intended for sale were 
allotted, except fractions number seven and eight in 
the twelfth Range, afterwards Cleveland and New- 
Inirg. None of the ten acre out-lots in Cleveland 
were surveyed. Around these are the one hundred 
acre lots, numbering from 268 to 486, which, with the 
in and out lots of the city, cover fractional Towns 
seven and eight. Why the numbers of the one 
hundred acre lots w^ere not commenced at numljer 
one, I have no means of exj^laining. The four town- 
ships making four hundred lots, intended for dis- 
tribution, one to each share in the company, wei*e 
not yet sub-divided. It is probable that all, or 
nearly all, of the township lines north of the sixth 
parallel were finished this season. 

One cause of delay in the surveys, Avas the time 
lost by all the parties when they arrived at Chagrin 
river, and mistook it for the Cuyahoga. It w^as not 
always practicable to have provisions promptly de- 
livered to the surveying parties, so that their work 
could go on without interruption. The axmen, 
chainmen, cooks, pack-horse men and boatmen, soon 
got over their first enthusiasm, Avhich no doubt 
delayed their progress. After their experience in 
running the first four meridians, the romance of a 
life in the woods was very much dissipated. Every 
day was one of toil, and frequently discomfort. The 



I'llE MEN DISSATISFIED* 23 1 

woods, and particularly the swamps, were filled 
with ravenous mosquitoes, who were never idle, day 
or night. In rainy weather the bushes were wet, 
and in clear weather the heat was oppressive. They 
were not always sure of supper at night, nor of their 
drink of New England rum, which constituted an 
important part of their rations. Their well provi- 
ded clothing began to show rents, from so much 
clamberino; over losrs and throus-h thickets. Their 
shoes gave out rapidly, as they were incessantly on 
foot, and were where no cobblers could be found to 
repair them. They had no special interest in the 
work, except their pay. 

It does not appear that their discontent arose to 
an open rupture with the surveyors, but was suf- 
ficient to hinder the progress of the work. The 
agent and his subordinates, were obliged to make 
promises of lands to such as proved to be faithful, 
which the proceedings of September 30th, sufficiently 
explain. 

Before they started homeward some of the party 
had selected lots in the capital city of New 
Connecticut. The allotment of the town and of 
the surrounding lots, was the work of all the 
parties. Porter states that he ran the outline of 
the tract to be comprised in the new town. Pease, 
Stoddard and Spafford had a hand in it, and Hol- 
LEY surveyed some of the one hundred acre lots. A 
rough map of the city was made during the survey, 



238 SUEVEY OF THE CITY. 

a copy of wliicli is here given. A few lots were 
sold probably on tlie terms proposed by Poetek. 
Great expectations were formed of tlieir projected 
settlement in Euclid, wliicli, however, were not 
realized. 

FIRST MAP OR PLAT OF THE CITY OF 
CLEVELAND, OCT. 1, 1796. 

The original, of which this is a copy, reduced by 
photograph, was found among the papers of John 
Milton Holley, at Salisbmy, Connecticut, in charge 
of his son. Governor Alexandee H. Holley'. It is 
endorsed in the hand writing of Amos Spaffoed: 
" Original plan of the town and village of Cleveland, 
Ohio, Oct. 1st, 1796." The sheet is formed, by past- 
ing several sheets and parts of sheets, of foolscap 
together, evidently extemporized in the field. It 
was the first rough sketch, used l)y the surveyors be- 
fore their return to the east, Superior street was at 
first named "Broad" street — a very appropriate 
title, as it then had no equal in width. Miami 
street had the name of "Deer" street — probably 
from the appearance there, of one of those animals 
during the survey. 

Maiden street, or lane, was ignored in the subse- 
quent plat of Spaffoed, in 1801, and thus aband- 
oned. On this map there is no extension of Superior 
street to the river, which was done l^y Spaffoed, 
under tlie name of Superior Lane. 



SPAFFORDS MAP OF CLEVELAND. 



239 



H 



isiaisisisi 



i IS" 






?i>^W. 





c^ ' 


«> 


■u5 


» 


s 

s " 

t" ■" 

i 


^ 








<* 



I i 




REFERENCES. 

A, Lower Landing. B, Upper Landing. C. Public Square, of ten 
acres. D, Moutli of tlie River. JSE, Lake Erie. 



240 THE oeiCtInal streets* 

The Public Square is here indicated by a blank 
space, like an enlargement of the streets crossing 
each other at that point. Ontario had at first the 
name of "Court street," which is erased, and the 
present name inserted. The letters A, B, C, D, and 
E, on the copy, are introduced by me, for the pur- 
pose of reference. On the face of the original, there 
are the numbers of the lots — two hundred and 
twenty in number; the streets, Superior, Water, 
Mandrake, Union, Vineyard, Bath, Lake, Erie, Fed- 
eral, Maiden, Ontario, Huron, Ohio and Miami — 
fourteen in number, and the names of the parties 
who had selected lots. These were : Stoddaed, lot 
49, north-east corner of Water and Superior streets ; 
Stiles, lot 53, north-east corner of Bank and Supe- 
rior streets; Landois", lot T7, directly opposite, on the 
south side of Superior street; Bau^f, lot C>5, sixteen 
rods east of the Public Square ; Shepherd, lot CO, 
and CiiAPMAis", lot T2, all on the north side of the 
same street. 

"Pease's Hotel," as they styled the surveyors' 
cabin, is placed on the line between lots 202 and 
208, between Union street and the river. North- 
west of it, about ten rods, on lot 201, their store 
house is laid down. Vineyard, Union and Mandrake 
streets, were laid out to secure access to the upper 
and lower landings on the river. Bath street pro- 
vided a way of reaching the lake shore and the 
mouth of the river. 



Original naimi^ of the city. 241 

After the return of the surveyors, regular fieki 
notes of the surveys of the city, were made out by 
Setii Pease, which are regarded as the official re- 
turns. With these notes is a map, styled on the face 
of it "Plan of the City of Cleaveland, 1796," which 
is substantially the same as the one here given. 
The river l)luffs are slightly different, and the sand 
spit at the mouth is longer. 

There are the same number of streets with the 
same names, and the lots are alike on both ; Ijut the 
name of the city is spelled on the field plat without 
the letter " a," probably through inadvertence. In 
the papers and correspondence of those times, and 
until after the war of 1812, it is spelled l)otli ways. 
General Cleaveland, from whom the city was 
named, always signs with the letter " a " in the first 
syllable. 

Several copies of the plat, were made on a scale 
about the same as the first draft, during the win- 
ter of 1796-97, for the use of the company, but it 
was never engraved. The first published map of 
the Reserve is that of Setii Pease, after his return 
in 1797. About the year 1816, soon after the or- 
ganization of the village corporation, when some 
new streets were thought to T)e necessary, the 
authorized Ijook of field notes, with its miniature 
plan, was brought here l)y James Root, Esq., brother 
to Epiiraim Root, the secretary of the company. 



S4^ MISSING PAPERS. 

This book remained until about tlie year 1856, 
since when, not l)eing in official custody, it lias dis- 
appeared. There is not now upon the Western 
Reserve a collection of the papers, maps, field books 
and proceedings of the company, from whom all our 
land titles are derived. A part of the Field Notes 
of Pease, Holley and Wakren are in my possession. 

The survey of the city was commenced on the 
loth of September, and completed about the 1st of 
October. Holley's descriptions of their departure 
and journey homeward as far a^^Canandaigua are full 
and interesting, and are given without curtailment. 

Jfondcnj, Oct, IVM, 1790. — Finished surveying in 
New Connecticut ; weather rainy. 

Tuesday, Oct. IS?"//. — We left Cuyahoga at ;'. 
o'clock 17 minutes, foriio^rE. AVe left at Cuyahoga 
Job Stiles and wife, and Joseph Laistdon, with pro- 
visions for the winter. W]\r. B. Hall, Titi s Y. 
Mfistson and Olis^ey Rice eno-ao-ed to take all the 
pack horses to Geneva. Day pleasant, and fiiir wind 
about south-east; rowed about seven and a half 
miles, and encamped for the night on the beach. 

There were fourteen men on board the lioat, and 
never I presume, were fourteen men more anxious 
to pursue an object, than we were to get forward. 
Names of men in the boat : 

Augustus Pokter, James Hacket, 

vSeth Pease, Stephen Bento^^, 

Richard Stoddard, George Proudfoot, 



.rOUENEY DOWN THE LAKE. 24B 



Joseph Tinker, James Hamilton, 

Charles Parker, Nathan Chapman, ( 

Wareham Shepherd, Ralph Bacon, f 

Amzi Atwater, Milton Holley. 



Genesee. 



Walnut creek, a pretty stream twenty or thirty 
links wide, enij)ties into the lake about seven miles 
east of the Cuyahoga ; not navigable for boats. The 
to\vnship of Cleaveland lies on the lake shore, eight 
miles, four chains, seventy links. About one hun- 
dred and thirty chains east of the corner a stream, 
considera1)ly larger than Walnut creek, empties into 
the lake. This is in the town purchased by the sur- 
veyors, and named (by Moses Waeeen, Esq.,) 
Euclid ; in memory of the man who first made the 
principles of geometry known. About ten miles 
from the Cuyahoga, a rock sliore begins and contin- 
ues nearly a mile, then a good beach commences and 
continues to ChaOTin river. This river is about 
fourteen rods wide at its mouth, and navigable for 
boats up three or four miles at all times, when there 
is no obstruction at the outlet, which however, is 
frecpieiitly the case, with this as well as most of the 
other rivers upon this lake, in consequence of the 
waves driving up a bank of sand. 

Wednesday morning, 3 o'clock. — Clear and pleas- 
ant ; moon shone bright, and we hoisted sail. About 
daybreak it began to thicken up in the west, and by 
sunrise the sky was hid from sight. Just before 
sunrise we passed the first settlement (except those 



:14:-i ANOTHER SETTLEMIJnT. 

made by ourselves) that is on the shore of the Lake 
in New Connecticut. This is done l)y the Canan- 
daiqua Association Company, under the direction of 
Major Wells and Mr. Wildair. After the sun rose 
the wind got into the north and north-east, and came 
on to blow so fresh that we were obliged to run 
ashore on the beach and pitch our tent, al)out a mile 
east of the Chagrin. 

Thursdaij, Oct. '20tJi, 1700. — Started half after 
six in the morning ; no wind ; against the ninth 
Kange of towns. About nineteen miles T)y the lake 
shore from the Cuyahoga, a creek comes in, which 
forms a large marsh lying a mile along shore, and on 
average one hundred rods wide; at twenty -seven 
miles comes in Grand river. This stream is almost 
always a good harbor for boats, the outlet into the 
lake l^eino; al)out two or three rods wide and two or 
three feet deep. Just above the sand Imr, made l)y 
the washing of the lake, the river is nearly twenty 
rods wide, and the depth sufficient for large vessels 
to anchor in. It continues this depth almost a mile, 
and is navigable for any boat four miles from the 
mouth, up to the Indian settlement, where are rapids 
which now ol>struct the passage, but with some ex- 
pense might be made navigable for l)oats a great 
distance, I suppose forty or fifty miles at least. The 
general course is north, till it approaches within 
eight miles of the lake, when it runs twenty miles 
nearly due west l)efore it em])ties itself. About 



BUKNLNU SPRING. 245 

tliirty-six miles is a burning spring in tlie lake, two 
or three rods from shore, wliieli is very perceptible 
as you stand upon the beach, from its boiling 
motion. Mr. Porter told me that he, with General 
Cleaveland and Mr. Stow, had made a trial to 
know if it really was inflammable, which they found 
to be the case, although it was a very unfavorable 
time when they did it. The Avaves ran high, and 
the wind }Aew hard. They held a torch w^ell light- 
ed very close to the Avater, w^hen there appeared a 
flame like that of spirits l>urning, but as it w^as so 
much mixed with other air, and the water so deep 
over it, (four feet) the flame would go out imme- 
diatel}\ About 11 o'clock the wind began to bloAv 
from the north-east, and came so hard that we 2:)ut 
ashore, and encamped near the spring at I o'clock, 
P. M. 

Fi'idaij^ 2Ls'^. — Started alxnit 2 o'clock; wind 
north-east, not strong ; about 10 it lulled awa}^, and 
we rowed to Conneaut; arrived about half after 12 ; 
took inventory of the articles left there, and about 
4 o'clock in the morning, that is, on Saturday, the 
2 2d, we hoisted sail for Presque Isle. We sailed 
and rowed prettily to the peninsula, unloaded, drew 
the boat across, and arrived at the garrison at 12 
o'clock. Received a letter from my father of Sept. 
16th, and one from Myron of the 15th, l)y Esquire 
Paine, of Onondaga county. 



24(3 TllEY llEACII PKESQUE ISLE. 

This place is settling considerably fast, and, I 
tliink, must be a place of consequence, as it aftbrds 
a good harbor for vessels, has a good country around 
it, and is but fifteen miles by land from Le Beuf, 
which is on French creek, and al)out one hundred 
and fifty miles from Pittsburg, to which place from 
Le Beuf, is good boating thioiigh French creek and 
the Allegheny river all the way. The journey is 
performed often in two days. Settlers from the 
north-western part of Pennsylvania take this route 
to get on the Presque Isle lands. The peninsula is 
about seven miles in length, and from twelve rods 
to a mile wide. It is very little more than a bank 
of sand, although a great part of it is thickly tim- 
bered. The 1)ay is about six miles in length and 
two miles wide. In the channel there is a sufficient 
depth of water for ships to anchor, but they cannot 
get near shore. With some expense, a wharf can 1 )e 
made out to the channel, which prol^ably will be 
the case. Opposite the east end of the peninsula, 
on the main land, stands the fort. It has a com- 
manding prospect and is agreeably situated, except 
a bad marsh between it and the lake, which in dry 
seasons is extremely unhealthy. 

Sumlaij, Oct. 2S(I, '96.— Left Presque Isle at 35 
minutes past one o'clock in the morning; a laud 
breeze from the south-west. The wind continued, 
and we rowed till about 1 o'clock, P. M., when it 
came so fast from the west, from where it had hauled 



PASS NIAGARA. 247 

that we sailed till -i o'clock ; the wind then lulled, 
and we plyed our oars again ; arrived in Buftalo 
creek at half after 10 in the evenino;. We struck a 
tire, and ^v^ere asleep in less than thirty minutes from 
the time of landing. • 

Monday ') Homing^ Oct. 24:th. — Left Buffalo creek 
at 9 o'clock in the morning. We ran down the 
river to Chipeway landing, which is twenty miles 
distant, at half after 12 o'clock. We were so fortu- 
nate, as to get our Loat and luggage carried across 
the portage immediately, by some teams that came 
to the shore just as we did. We rode in a wagon 
to Queensto^v^l, Came across Capt. Davis at Major 
Ingersoll's inn. With him, Mr. Hunn", Mr. Butler 
and Major Pixley, we spent a sociable evening. 

Tuesday^ Oct. 'l^ytJi. — ^We left Major Ingersoll's 
at half 2^ast 7, and came to Newark. Davis came 
^^'ith us. We l)reakfasted at Wilson's. 

Ne^vark is a pleasant village, situated on the west 
shore of Niagara river, just at its entrance into Lake 
Ontario. It is laid out in city form, and there are 
many very pretty buildings. I think it ^vill not l)e 
a place of so much business as Queenstown. Op- 
posite Newark stands the ancient fort of Niagara, 
l)uilt l:)y the French. It appears to have been a 
place of considerable strength, though many parts 
are now tumbling to ruin. We left Newark at half 
after 10 o'clock, A. M. ; wind north-east; about 1 
o'clock the wind lulled, and we continued rowing 



248 ON LAKE ONTARIO. 

till simdowii, then encamped on tlie beach at the 
mouth of a creek, or marsh, called Key Harbor. 
The shore of the lake to this place is generally low 
and clayey. Just before we came to the harbor, a 
rocky shore commenced. The opening, Avhere the 
marsh or creek comes in, is about fifteen rods, and 
about twenty miles from the fort. 

Wednesdaf/, Oct. 26/A. — ^ Started at 4 o'clock in 
morning ; wind rather ahead. We I'owed past Gol- 
den Harl)or, the Eagle's Nest, and on to Oak Or- 
chard; a creek of considerable size comes in here, 
supposed to l)e Tonawanda. From the appearance 
of the mouth, it never fills up with sand, therefore 
is a good harbor for l^oats, (the others mentioned 
were filled); arrived here al)out 12 o'clock. This 
is about forty-five miles from the garrison at Niagara. 

1 liur.sday^ 27t7i. — Wind north-east, in consequence 
of which we are obliged to lie still. I had the head- 
ache this day. Towards evening the wind lulled 
away, and at a quarter after (3 o'clock we left our 
encampment, and determined to row all night. It 
was extremely cold ; the waves I'an high, and the 
Avind came on to blow considerably hard against us. 
However, we continued rowing, and about sunrise 
])assed the Genesee river. 

Friday^ -T/^^- — ^^ ^^ o'clock and 45 minutes we 
entered the mouth of Gerundicut l)ay, and found a 
fire burning here. We breakfasted, and pursued our 
way at o'clock. This bay is about four miles in 



KEACir CANANDATGUA. 249 

length, uiid from oiic-li;ilf to tliree-(|iiartei's of a mile 
Avide. A great part of it consists of tiags, niarsli, 
or a kind of mossy grass, coming close to the top of 
tlie Avatei'. Towards the head of the l)ay, the navi- 
gation is so difficult that we were obliged to strip, 
jump into the mud up to our waists, and haul the 
l)oat thirty rods to get into the channel. We pur- 
sued the river to the head of navigation, which is 
al)out eight miles as the river runs, Avhich is 
very crooked. Porter, Pease, Stoddard, and my- 
self stayed at Dunbar's that night, the others went 
on. 

^Satid'dm/^ 20///. — ^We breakfasted, and then set 
out on foot for Canandaigiia, Avhere we arrived at 
sunset. Lodged at Sanborn's. 



JOHN MILTON HOLLEY. 

Of liim, Judge A:\izr Atwater, in his sketches of 
the personal appearance of the surveyors, says: 
"He was then a very young man, only al)out 
eigliteen years of age, though he appeared to l)e 
older; tall, stout and handsomely built, witli a 
fair and smiling face, and general good appearance. 
He was a beautiful penman." 

Neither Holley or Porter returned to the survey 

in 1797. They eventually became brothers-in-law, 

Porter removing, at an early day, to the banks of 

the Niagara river. Holley settled in Salisbury, 

17 



250 BIOGEAPHY. 

Connecticut, tlie old home of tlie Porters. He was 
a brother of Myron Holley, prominent in New 
York, as one of the Canal Commissioners of that 
State. John Milton spent his days at Salisbury, 
leaving a large and respected family. His son, 
Alexander H., once elected Governor of the State, 
still resides on the old homestead, near the famous 
Salisbury iron mine known as the " Ore Hill." 



MOSES CLEAVELAND. 

BY FREDEKICK WADSWORTH, ESQ., OF AKRON. 

"Mr. Cleaveland was a prominent and nuich 
respected citizen of Canterbury, Windham county, 
Connecticut; born about the year 1755. He gradua- 
ted at Yale College in 1777. In 1788, he purchased 
a portion of the interest of Samuel H. Parsons, 
in the Salt Sj^ring tract, on the Meander creek. His 
profession was that of a law}^er, practising in his 
native town, where he died in 180G. He was a 
Brigadier General of militia, and a Representative 
in the Legislature. 

His daughter, Mrs. Frances Cleaveland Mor- 
gan, of Norwich, Connecticut, says the city of 
Cleveland Avas a decided pet with him so long as 
he lived. There were many papers and journals of 
her father, which have been scattered in the changes 
of the family. Mrs. Morgan still treasures the 



cleaveland's person ale. 251 

pipe wliit'li PA(iUA pivsented lier father, at tlic con- 
ference on Conneaiit creek." 

Mr. Atwatek says General Cleayeland ^vas ''a 
short, thick set nian, with a liroad face, dark coni- 
])lexion and coarse features." In Judge Pouteh's 
letter of July, 1843, he states, that the General had 
furnished himself with an Indian dress, and l)ein(»: 
of a swarthy complexion, afforded an excellent like- 
ness of an Indian Chief; and was honored thereafter 
1 )y the party, by the name of " Paqua," the name of 
the chief of the tribe referred to." 

Tliis resemblance to the aborigines, appears to 
liave been patent to everybody. In Judge Spauld- 
inct's address before the Cuyahoga County Pioneer 
Society, in October, 1858, he refers to it as follows : 

" It is said of him, that some years after he left 
college, he attended an annual commencement at 
New Haven, where he met certain members of his 
own class, with whom he was examining the trien- 
nial catalogue, that had then just issued from the 
press. It is usual, in this catalogue, to print the 
names of such of the graduates as have studied 
theology, in italics. Gen. Cleayeland, in running 
liis eye over the names of his classmates, chanced to 
find the name of one then present, who made no 
great pretensions to piety, printed in the form to de- 
note a clergyman. Fond of humor and ready at a 
joke, he snatched a pen, and wrote against the name 
of his friend — 'Settled at Mohegan;' which was 



252 HIS NAME -SAKE PAQUA. 

then and is now, a small Indian settlement on the 
bank of the Thames, between Norwicli and New 
London. The catalogue thus amended, was passed 
around the company, amid roars of laughter, until 
it came into the hands of the innocent subject of 
their mirth, when he, with easy facility and wit, re- 
torted upon our hero, by writing against his name — 
' Born at Mohegan.' " 

By reference to the list of original proprietors 
already given, it appears that he was an owner of 
$32,600 stock in the Land Company. After the 
business of 1796 was closed, it is not known that 
he afterwards visited the Reserve. Of Ms Indian 
name-sake, Paqua, or "Pawquaw," Mr. Atwater 
says : " He was not a large Indian, but straight 
and handsomely built, with a fair and pleasant 
countenance, lighter than most Indians." 



JOB P. STILES. 

Job p. Stiles and his wife had a cabin built for 
them on the hill, before the surveyors left. Rich- 
ard Landon, one of the surveying party, was 
left to spend the winter with them, upon this 
dreary spot. From some cause not yet explained, 
he soon after abandoned the place, and Edward 
Paine took up his residence with the Stiles family. 
During the winter a child is reputed to have been 



^IHE PIONEER FAMILY. 25.H 

l>orii 111 the cabin, wliicli liad only S(|uaw,s for a 
nurse. 

The Indians who were quartered here at that 
time, constituting l)y far the most numerous part 
of its population, treated these lonely settlers with 
great kindness. 

Paine was a trader with the Indians during the 
winter of 1796-97, who afterwards became a prom- 
inent citizen of Geauga county. Stiles left here in 
ISOO, and survived to a good old age, dying in 
Leicester, Addison county, Vermont, about the year 
1<S5(). The courageous Mrs. Stiles lived to a still 
later period, but when her death occurred I am not 
informed. 

Pease's Journal of the return from New Connec- 
ticut, agrees closely with Holley's. In getting 
out of the river, on the 18th of October, he says: 
" It was much obstructed by a sand bar, occasioned 
by a violent gale from the northward the day before. 
It was with some difficulty we reached the lake. 

"We put ashore where two small runs empty 
into the lake, in the eastern part of Euclid. I 
walked a short distance to a settlement begun by 
the Canandaigua Company, Major Wells Agent, 
and received some provisions that had been lent 
them by us." 

This is the settlement referred to by Holley, 
whose history is not yet developed. 



254 PEASE REACHES HOME. 

Mr. Pease met with many difficulties and dis- 
comforts, on the journey from Canandaigua to Suffield. 

Friday^ November ^tli. — "Eiglit miles beyond 
Cayuga Lake, found difficulty in getting provisions 
on the road, the water being so low the mills could 
not grind." 

Saturdcnj, Kor. 9 fit. — "A little beyond the Onon- 
daga river, a gentleman let me ride his horse, 
althougjli he was bare back." 

Sunday^ Nov. KStli. — "Got home al)out 2 o'clock 
in the morning." 

His "home" was at Suffield, on the banks of the 
Connecticut river, above Hartford. 

After the surveyors returned in the fall of 179(3, 
a meeting was called on the 17th of January, 1707, 
at which the Directors and Trustees, were required 
to urge the Legislature to erect a county comprising 
all the Western Reserve. A committee Avas ap- 
pointed to enquire into the causes of the " very great 
expense of the Company during the first year, the 
causes which have prevented the completion of the 
surveys; and why the surveyors and agents have 
not made their reports. 

A tax, or assessment, of five dollars per share, 
was also ordered, the number of shares l>eing four 
hundred. A Committee of Partition was appointed 
consisting of Daniel Holbrook, Moses Warren, 
Jr., Setii Pease and Amos Spafford. 



TilE LAND company's PROCEEDINGS. ^5o 

Another committee was raised to inquire generally 
into the conduct of the directors. At a subsecj^uent 
meeting, on the 2 2d of February, 1797, this commit- 
tee made their report, thoroughly white-washing the 
directors, and overwhelming the dissatisfied stock- 
holders. They also " voted that Moses Cleaveland's 
contract with Joseph Brant, Esq., in behalf of the 
Mohawks, of Grand river, Canada, be ratified." 

By this time the distressing fact became known, 
that the "Excess Company" had no land whatever. 

Augustus Porter, who had made a traverse of 
the lake shore, from the Pennsylvania line to San- 
dusky Ijay, ascertained that it l)ore much more to 
the south, than the old maps represented. Upon 
calculating the contents of the tract, including the 
Fire Lands, he discovered that the Land Company 
had less than three million of acres, the quantity for 
which they had paid. 



QUANTITY OF LAND IN THE RESERVE. 



A, Porter's Keport to the Directors, Hartford, January 
28, 1797, ON THE Quantity of Land in the Reserve. 

" I have surveyed the said Reserve, and found it 
to contain 3,450,753 acres, exclusive of the islands 
in Lake Erie, and including Sandusky bay, sup- 
posed to exceed the islands in quantity about 30,000 
acres. (Presents a map.) Fixed the south-east cor- 
ner at tlie forty-tirst pai'allel l)y celestial observations, 
and by measuring from the Pennsylvania monument 
on Lake Erie, fixed by a surveyor general of that 
state. Determined the lake shore by a traverse 
from the Pennsylvania line. Was not aide to run 
tlie west line, on account of the Indian title not 
being extinguished. Owing to imperfections of the 
compass, there may be an error of a few tliousand 
acres." 

Mr. Poeter's estimate proved to l)e as nc^ar the 
truth, as liis means of computation "svould allow. 
Tlie length of the west line, depended upon the ac- 
curacy of the meander of the lake shore, along a 
rugged coast from the Pennsylvania line, until the 



258 OOMPltTATlOIf OF mi. VASVl 

sum of the westings, slioiild e(i[ual one liundred and 
twenty miles. Great was tlie astonishment of the 
" Excess Company," when his report was puldished. 
After 500,000 acres are sul)ti'acted from 8,450,753, 
the Land company had less than they bargained for, 
and the " Excess Company" had nothing. 

Poktek's work was (juestioned, and a professor of 
mathematics from Yale College gave it a searching 
examination. No material error was discovered. 

Not many years since, the late Leonard Case had 
the patience to go through each township, and de- 
temiine the nmnber of acres l>y the surveys. His 
figures are as follows : 

Acres. 

Drafts east of the Cuyahoga, - - 972,861 
Sales by the Directors east of Cuyahoga, 30,461 
Drafts west of the Cuyahoga, - - 828,977 
Islands in Lake Erie, . . . - 4,810 
Fire lands, 496,590 

Total, 3,333,699 

The late (reneral Simon Perkins has given the 
following, as the result of his investigations : 

Acres. 

Salt Spring tract, 25,450 

Conn. Land Co. east of Cuyahoga, - 2,002,970 

Conn. Land Co. Avest of Cuyahoga. - 832,577 

Islands in Lake Erie, . . . . 5,924 

Fire lands, 500,000 

General Perkins' total, - - - 3,366,921 
Leonakd Case's total, - - - 3,333,699 

AuGtTSTiTS Porter's totnl, - - - 3,450,753 



COtlRllOTEl) RfeSlTLT. '2t)9 

The calculation of Mr. Case l)eiiii»; made in o-reat 
detail, after all the lands had heen disposed of, with 
all the surve}'s and drafts before him, may he re- 
garded as very near the truth. Deducting the fire 
lands, 496,590 acres, from the whole lleserve, the 
Land Company, instead of 8,000,000 acres, only ac- 
quired 2,837,109 acres, from which a portion of the 
Salt Spring tract of about 4,000 acres sold by Par- 
sons should be deducted. 

Probably some of the water courses and small 
interior lakes, were left out of the contents of the 
to\vnships, as determined by Mr. Case. 

The south line of the Reserve is now considered 
as somewhat above the forty-first parallel, and 
is not strictly parallel with it. A close measure- 
ment, would ])robal)ly extend the western l)oundary 
of the fire lands to the ^vestward, due allowance not 
having lieen made, for the slack of the chain through, 
a tano:led undero-rowth. 

When the valueless swamp land shall be added to 
the proper deductions, the comj^any's purchase, 
amounted to little more than two and one -half 
millions of arable land. 

Having determined to go on and com})lete the 
surveys of the town lines, and the townships to be 
allotted, and also to make partition among the 
owners, an assessment of ten dollars j)er share was 
levied, to be j)aid on the 2r)th of June, and another 
of fifteen dollars, ])ayable September ir)th, 1797. 



1200 ABSENCE OF LaW. 

At the amiiial meeting the directors and trustees, 
were empowered to take such measures, as should be 
deemed best calculated to procure a legal and 
practical government^ over the territory of the com- 
pany. As yet, the inhabitants who remained on 
their lands, were acknowledged or cared for }>y no 
legal authority. Most of them were at Cleveland, 
the extreme north-western point of the old county 
of Washington, erected in 1788. Their public busi- 
ness, as citizens of that county required them to 
travel to Marietta, on the Ohio. This they did not 
consider to be a practical government, and most of 
them doubted its legality. The seat of justice came 
a little nearer on the 29th of June, 1797, when 
Jefferson county was erected, with Steubenville as 
the county town. No magistrates were appointed 
for this part of the country, no civil process known, 
and no mode existed of making a legal conveyance. 
Citizens of the New England States, wlio have so 
much reverence for law, and such a constant use for 
it in the daily transactions of life, did not relish such 
a state of things. It was a lower civilization than 
their Indian neighbors possessed. For although 
there is no public authority, which the red man I'e- 
spects, he is his own executor of the customs of 
his tril)e, under the simple law of retaliation. 

The legislature of Connecticut, did not assume 
jurisdiction over her peoj^le in the western wilds, 
having already parted, with all shadow of right to 
the soiL 



THE BAKli :\rANUSCRIPTS. 261 

EXTRACTS FROM THE BARR MANUSORJITS. 

"The Land Company in the fall of 17',H), cleared 
about six acres of land at Conneaut, east of the creek, 
and solved it with Avheat, which was brought from 
the settlement on Genesee river, New York. This 
was the first crop of grain, produced by civilized 
men on the Western Reserve. 

The sutterings of the families at Conneaut during 
the winter, Avere very great. The j^eople at Cleve- 
land were in a state of comfort, when compared with 
those at Conneaut, who Avere obliged to kill the 
cattle left by Mr. Ciiapjian in order to sustain life. 
The Indians supplied the Cleveland j^arty Avith 
game, Avhich Avas abundant, and they had the com- 
pany's stock of provision, on Avhich they could draAV 
at any time. The savages Avere friendly and even 
kind. They deserved the appellation of friends, 
instead of savages; except Avhen they were under 
the influence of intoxication. 

Among them Avere "Ogonce" or 0«ontz, an Otta- 
Ava; SactAmaav, a Chippewa, and Seneca, of the 
Seneca nation ; all chiefs of their respecti\^e tril)es. 

Seneca was the most friendly, and is spoken of as 
a noble specimen of Indian character. In the fall, 
the Senecas, OttaAvas, DelaAvares and Chippewas 
resorted here ; and having procured Avhat articles the 
traders had for them, dispersed to hunt througli the 
Avinter, on the Cuyahoga, the Grand river, Mahoning, 



262 THE FIKST SETTLER. 

Tuscarawas, Kilbuck, and Black rivers. In the 
spring they returned with their furs and game, and 
after trafficking away their stock, hiunched their 
hark canoes to repair to Sandusky phiins and the 
Miami prairies, for the sununer. Here they })lanted 
corn, beans and potatoes, around their villages. 

While here the Senecas encamped at the foot of 
the bluff, between Vineyard and Superior lanes. On 
the west side were the Ottawas, Delawares and 
Chippewas. From the manner they had been hunted 
down by the Pennsylvanians, they called them Long 
Knives (swords) , but the new comers, they called 
by the more complimentary term of " Sagamosh " or 
white men, and sometimes Bostonians. 

Seneca was seen here in 1809, which is the last 
known of him. Ogontz was at Sandusky in the 
year 1811.'' 

JAMES KINGSBUKY. 

James Kingsbury was the first adventurer on his 
own account, ^vho arrived on the Company's ])ur- 
chase. He came from Alsted, New Hampshire, with 
his wife, Eunice, (ne Waldo,) arriving at Conneaut 
soon after the surveyors. There were also three 
children, whose fortunes were cast among the pio- 
neers : Abagail, who w^as afterwards Mrs. Siier.man, 
of Cleveland, then at the age of three years, Amos 
Shepherd Kingsbury, about a year younger, and 
Almon Kingsbury, an infant. 



DISTKESS AT CONISTEAUT. 263 

Eunice Waldo was also from Alsted. In Novem- 
l)er, after the surveyors had left, he found it neces- 
sary to return to New Hampshire. The journey 
was made T^y way of Erie, Butfalo, Canandaigua, 
and Albany, on horse back. He expected it would 
occupy four, perhaps six weeks. Reaching New 
Hampshire with no unusual delay or hardships, 
he was immediately attacked with fever, which run 
the usual course. From Buffalo one of his party 
returned to Conneaut, bringing the last news, the 
wife expected to receive until his return. Until 
winter, the Indians occasionally furnished her with 
meat. A nephew of the Judge, about thirteen years 
of age, was left at Conneaut, with a cow and a yoke 
of oxen. The expected husband did not return ; no 
news arrived, and, in the height of her perplexity, 
a son was added to the household. 

Mrs. Gim w^as at Conneaut at the liirtli of this 
child, the first white native of the Reserve. As 
soon as the Judge could safely ride a horse, he 
started for the shore of Lake Erie. He reached 
Buffalo nearly exhausted, on the 3d of December. 
The next day he set forward, although the winter 
snow covered the ground. 

It was unusually deep, and fell without intermis- 
sion every day for three weeks. In places it was 
up to the chin of a man, standing erect. Weak and 
distressed in mind, he moved forward every day, 
having only an Indian for guide, companion and 



264 Kingsbury's return. 

purveyor, soinetiiiies making only a few miles. It 
was the 24t}i of December wlien lie readied tlie cabin. 
Mrs. Kingsbury had finally recovered strength 
enough to move aljout, and had concluded to start 
with her family for Erie, the next day. Towards 
evening a gleam of sunshine, broke through the long 
clouded heavens, and lighted up the surrounding 
forest. Looking out, she beheld the figure of her 
husband approaching the door. 

He was nearly exhausted, his horse lia\ ing died 
of exposure. Mrs. Kingsbury relapsed into a fever, 
which deprived her young child of its natural food. 
The provisions left by tlie surveyors, Avere nearly 
gone. Before Mr. K. had recovered from the effects 
of the journe}", he was forced to return to Erie ; and 
prociu'e sustenance for his family. As there Avas no 
beaten track, it was impossible for the oxen to travel 
in so deep snoAV. He was obliged to drag a hand 
sled to Erie, and obtaining a ])usliel of Avlieat, to 
draw it himself to Couneaut. This they cracked and 
boiled. Soon after the cow died. The cattle had 
no other food, than the browse or small tAvigs of 
trees, wMch. were cut for them to feed upon. The 
young lad did not know the difference, in different 
kinds of timber for this purpose. It was sup})osed 
the cow died, from eating the In'owse of oak trees. 
On the twigs of the elm, beech and linn which are 
tender and nutritious, cattle may live through the 
winter, as well as the deer and the elk. While the 



THE FIRST DEATH. 265 

VOW lived, there was a chance for the life of the 
infant, who was then less than two months old. 

The child who liad been named Albert, grew 
weaker from mere starvation, every day ; its moans 
incessantly piercing the ears, and distressing the 
liearts of the parents, both of whom were sick. In 
al)out a month, after Mr. Kingsbury reached home 
from the east ; the child died. There was only Mi; 
K. and his young nephew at the place at the time. 

They found a pine l)ox which the surveyors had 
left, of which a rude coffin was made. As they car- 
ried the remains from the house, the sick mother 
raised herself in bed; following with her eyes the 
lonely party ; to a rise of ground where they had 
dug a grave. She fell backward and for two weeks, 
\vas scarcely conscious of what was passing, or of 
^vhat had passed. Late in February or early in 
March, Mr. Kingsbury who was still feeble, made 
an effort to obtain something whicli his Avife could 
eat, for it was evident that nutriment Avas her prin- 
cipal necessit}\ The severest rigors of winter began 
to relax. Instead of fierce northern blasts, sweeping 
over the frozen surface of the lake; there were 
southern breezes, Avhich softened the snow and mod- 
erated the atmosphere. 

Scarcely able to w^alk, he loaded an old " Queen's 

Arm," which his uncle had carried in the war of the 

revolution ; and which is still in the keeping of the 

family. He succeeded in reaching the woods, and 

18 



:20G 



A l.liKY SHOT 



sat down n])on n log-. A solitary pigvoii i.'ame, aiul 
jhtcIuhI \ij)oii the luLi'liost l^vaiu'lios t>t' a tivo. It "was 
not only high, but distaiiL Tlu' i-lianrcs ot' hitting 
the hinl were te^^■ incKHnl, luit a human lit'c sinant'cl 
to (leponJ u|H>n thoso i-lianct's. A singh> shot t'ound 
its way \o tho mark, and the hird iMl. It was Avidl 
c'ookod and tho hroth given io his an ito, who was 
innnediatoly rovivod. For tho first tinu> in t\vo weeks 
she spoke in a natural and rational way, saying, 
''James, Avhere did you get thisf 

When the surveyors under ^Ir. Pkask returned to 
their work in the spring', tlie tamily came with them 
to Cleveland, as their permanent home. On the 
west side o\' the river, at a point Avhieh eannot now 
he Hxed Avith eertainty, l)iit ]H\d)ahly near where 
Centre and ]Main streets cross, there \vas a dihiju- 
dated house. 

The old settlers think it was ereeted 1>\ the 
Freneh, Init it Avas more j)robaMy done hy tlu> 
English, who were here soon after tlu' peaee of 17t).">. 
It Avas a better building than the Freut-h Avere in 
the habit of putting \i\^ in siu-h ri'mote ]>laees. It 
had been a eonifortablo and c-apai'ious log sti>re- 
honse. A'^ery likely the l-'renrh had built a eabin 
near the mouth o\' the river, whieh had disap[>eared. 

Indians are universally destruetix t\ Property, 
and especially houses that are not protected, remain 
but a short time after thcA' are aT)andoned. 



MOVKS TO CIJON'KI.ANI). 267 

Probal)ly this ]ious(; was huilt aLout ]78(j, and 
iis(m1 foi" st()i"n<j^('. Mr. KriNr(JsimJtY ()C('Ji])i(Ml it ^vllil(; 
lit) i)iit up a cabin east of the Public tS<j[uare, near 
Avliere tlie Case block now stands. He determined, 
h()\vever. to locate on the 1)1 nil', south-east of Cleve- 
land, which extends south from Doan's Corners to 
Newburg. His first trail was marked on the trees, 
near the line of Kinsman street. Finding a good 
spring near where he afterwards lived and died, 
another cabin was erected, and on the 11th of De- 
cend)(;r, 17*.)7, tin; family were ti.xed in their new 
home. 

There were three children, Abagail, (Mrs. Siiek- 
MAN,) aged four years, Amos S., and Almon. Tie 
was the first to locate on the hill. The year 17'J7 
was so sickly about the mouth of the Cuyahoga, that 
the settlers sought the highlands to escape remittent 
fevers. During the next year there was a thriving 
settlement on the ridge, by ^vliich the city ^vas mate- 
rially dinnnished in j)oj)ulation. 

lioDOLPiius Edwards, Natuaniel Doan, Elijah 
(iiiN, EzEKiEL Hawlev, and James Hamilton soon 
fixed their cal)ins along the bluff I'oad, neighbors of 
the original })ioneer. 

Judge KiNosjnJiiY now concluded to have a frame 
house, by way of aristocratic eminence. The logs 
AVTU'e hauled to Williams' saw mill at Newburg, in 
the winter of 1799-1800. A freshet in the sjiring 
carried away the dam, and no sawing was done that 



268 IMPROVEMENTS ON THE KIDGE. 

season. His frame stood one year without cover- 
ing, v^^hen he concluded to have a mill of his own, 
and erected one on Kingsburys brook near the 
the road, the remains of which may yet he seen. 
During the first winter on the ridge, they were 
obliged to pack their wheat from the city, pounding 
it by hand, and boiling it to a pudding. 

The first crop raised by him was at his city cabin, 
east of the square. 

In 1806 they had apples from their own trees, in 
in the venerable orchard a\ hich still graces the old 
homestead. 

On the 10th of December, 1843, Mrs. Kingsbury 
departed this life at the age of seventy-three years, 
and on the 12th of December, 1847, the old pioneer 
followed her, being nearly 80 years of age. 

In the Cleveland Plain JJealer of December 15, 
1847, there was published the following 

OBITUARY. 

Hon. James Kingsbury, who died at his residence 
in Newburg, on the 12th inst. in the eightieth year 
of his age, if not the last, was among the last of the 
few remaining pioneers, who bore a prominent part 
in the settlement of the lake shore. Like most of 
early settlers, he encountered hardships and trials 
which few of the present day can appreciate. Many 
of the incidents of his life are not only interesting 



ins EULOGY. 269 

111 themselves, but intimately connected witli the 
history of the Western Reserve ; which, it is hoped, 
will yet be more fully written. 

The subject of this notice, "the Judge," as he was 
usually denominated, was born in Norwich, Con- 
necticut, December 29, 1767. He was the fifth son 
of Absalom Kingsbury, who then resided in Con- 
necticut, but soon after removed with his family to 
Alsted, New Hampshire. Several of the Judge's 
older brothers served under General Washington in 
the army of the Revolution. Ebenezer, the eldest 
brother, distinguished himself at the battle of Ben- 
nington, as one of the brave fellows who first scaled 
the breastworks of the enemy. The same old mus- 
ket, or Queen's arm, with which he did such good 
execution, still remains in possession of the family at 
Newburg as a kind of heirloom. 

James, being at this time too young to engage in 
the public service, was employed at home in agricul- 
tural pursuits. In October, 1788, he was married 
to Miss Eunice Waldo, a lady of New Hampshire, 
much esteemed for the amiableness of her disposition 
and moral excellence of her character. She lived to 
share with him his joys and sorrows as an aftection- 
ate wife, for more than half a century. In 1793 he 
received a military commission, with the rank of 
Colonel, from the Governor of New Hampshire — a 
mark of public confidence, as well as a distinction of 
some consequence in those days. But finding no 



2^0 THEIR JOURNEY TO OltlO. 

occasion for tlie exercise of his military talents, and 
l)eing stimulated witli a love of adventure, lie gath- 
ered his little family about him, consisting of his 
wife and three young children, and in June, ITOG, 
with a few articles of household effects, a yoke of 
oxen, a horse and one cow, commenced a long and 
weary pilgrimage into the western wilderness. After 
some weeks of toil and hardship, he reached the 
shore of lake Ontario, near the site of the present 
town of Oswego. The facilities of navigation on the 
lakes at that early j)eriod, were comparatively 
unknown, and nothing better than a iiat-bottomed 
oj)en boat could be procured. In this he embarked 
with his family and household effects, while the 
oxen, horse and cow, were driven along the shore. 
He could only sail in calm Aveather, following the 
windings of the coast. When the emigrants reached 
the head of navigation on lake Ontario, the horse 
and oxen were very servicable in transporting the 
boat across the portage to Buffalo creek, a distance 
of about thirty miles, where the gallant little craft 
was launched with due ceremony upon the blue 
waters of lake Erie. Here the family were so fortu- 
nate as to meet with Moses Cleaveland, Esq., agent 
of the Directors of the Connecticut Land Company, 
then on his way to join the surveying party who 
had preceded him. 

The territory, within a few years after the Judge 
had made his location, became settled by the whites 



PUBLIC TRUSTS. 271 

to a considerable extent, and his fellow citizens 
selected liim to fill several important offices of trnst. 
In 1800, the Governor appointed him a Judge in the 
Court of Conunon Pleas and Quarter Sessions of the 
Peace, for the county of Trumbull, which compre- 
liended within its limits, at that time, nearly the 
whole of the Western Keserve. The seat of justice 
was at "Warren, and the first session of the Court, for 
the want of a more convenient hall, was held with 
becoming dignity between two corn o'ihs, and the 
prisoners of the term, it is said, were j^laced within 
the cribs for safe keeping. At a subsequent period, 
the Judge held the office of Justice of the Peace and 
collector of taxes, under the district system. In 1805 
lie was elected a member of the Legislature, and 
having served one term was re-elected, and proved 
himself in all respects worthy of the trust. 

In his politics, the Judge was always democratic. 
He supported the administration of Jefferson, 
Madisois^, Jackson and Van Buren, and gave his 
last vote in favor of President Polk. In 1812, he 
was engaged in forwarding supplies to the American 
forces, and in the communication of intelligence. 
Being on familiar terms with Commodore Perry 
and General Harrison, he was frequently admit- 
ted into their councils, and his opinions were treated 
with respect. On the day preceding the battle of 
Lake Erie, w^hile Commodore Perry was cruising in 
quest of the enemy, the Judge went on board the 



272 WAR OF 1812. 

flag ship to pay liis compliments to the Commodore, 
who in the course of conversation, asked him what 
lie would do, if they should chance to fall in with 
the British fleet while he was on Ijoard? "What 
would I do," replied the Judge, " Wliy si/% I would 
figUy 

Of the Judge, it may be said wdth propriety, that 
he was the patriarch of the land — among the last of 
the brave pioneers on the lake shore. He possessed 
a noble heart — a heart that overflowed with kind- 
ness like the gush of a fountain. His generosities 
were never stinted in a good cause, nor his charities 
bestowed ostentatiously to be blazoned abroad 
among men. He regarded all mankind as his l^reth- 
ren and kinsmen, belonging to the same common 
household." 

In commenting upon this ol)ituary notice, J. W. 
BiDDLE, a pioneer of Pittsburg, made the following 
o])servations in his paper, the Pittsl)urg American : 

" We knew thee well, good old Patriarch, when we 
were five and thirty years younger, and the hospital- 
ity of thy mansion extended to us then, is still fresh 
on our memory. 

In 1812 Judge Kingsbury lived a little beyond 
the Mills, six miles from "the city" as Cleveland 
was even then called, and the youngest city and 
smallest even of its age, we had at that day seen. 
Kingsbury had been one of the earliest settlers — 
Major Carter was another, and occupied a red frame 



llECOLLECTiOKS OF J. W. BlDDLE. 27?> 

lioiise on the toj) of the high plain which overlooked 
the Cuyahoga. A fine sample of pioneerism was 
this Major Carter. He was a noble fellow — a lit 
eoteniporary of Kustosbitry, but he was suffering 
at the time we kne"w him with a cancer on his lip, 
which we fear brought him to a premature grave. 
(teoege Wallace and he, kept the only taverns then 
in Cleveland. 

Dr. Long was the only practising physician and a 
thorough l)red one. There was no meeting house or 
established clergyman and but two stores, Perry's 
nnd HiRA^i Hancitetts. The road to Sandusky 
crossed the Cuyahoga a quarter, or may be half a 
mile from the lake, opposite Carter's house - — the 
wild grass on the river l)ottom, below that road to 
the lake, being then undisturl)ed even by a scythe. 

Our thouo-hts have often been recalled to the 
pleasant hours we have passed at Cleveland and at 
the farm and mansion, a good stout frame house, of 
our friend Kingsettry — then with a family of adult 
sons and daughters, l)ut whom until this notice 
struck us, we had supposed long since been gathered 
to his fathers." 



SURVEYING PARTY OF 1797. 



I have not yet discovered a full list of persons 
engaged in tlie expedition of 1797. The following 
names appear in Mr. Pease's diary and accounts, in 
a way which sho^vs they Yvere connected with the 
surveys of that year, l)iit there may have been 
others. Men were employed and discharged d^iring 
the season. 

Rev. Seth Hart, Superintendent. 
Seth Pease, Principal Surveyor.'^ 

surveyors. (8) 
Richard M. Stoddard,* Amos Spafford,"^^ 

Moses Warren,* Warham Shepard,* 

Amzi Atyv^ater,* Phineas Barker, 

Joseph Landon,* Nathajst Redfield. 

Theodore Shepard, (or Shepherd,) Physician,^' 

RMPLOYEES. (52) 

Col. Ezra Waite, Maj. William Shepard, 

Thomas Gun, Hubbard T. Linsley, 

Peleg Waterman, David Eldridge, (drowned) 

(or Washburn,) Minor Bicknell, (died,) 



270 REGlSTEU OF THE PARTY. 

JosiAH Barse, (or Barze.) John Doane, 

JOTHAM At WATER, JoSEPH TiNKER,* 

Oliver Culver, Samuel Spafford, 

Dan'l Holbrook, Explorer, (son of Amos,) 

Stephen Gilbert, Lot Sanford, 

Nathaniel Doan,* Alpheus Choat, 

David Clark, William Andrews, (died,) 

Solomon Gidings, Matthew L. Gilgore, 

Samuel Forbes, E. Chapman, 

James Stoddard, David Beard,* 

Ezekiel Morley,* Solomon Shepard, 

Thomas Tupper, William Tinker, 

Chester Allen, Alexander Allen, 

James Berry, George Gidings, 

Berry Nye, James Stoddard, 

Joseph Nye, Enoch Eldridge, 

Asa Mason, Charles Parker,* 

Eli Kellogg, Job Coe, 

William Barker, Eli Kowley, (deserted,) 

Shubal Parker, (or Park,) Clark Reynolds, 

Jacob Carlton, William Stoddard, 

Phil Barker, John Hine, 

Eli Canfield, Sylvester Smith, 

* These were of the party of 1796. 

The names of the Shepherds are spelled both 
ways, interchangeably. 

The outfit of the surveying party of 1797, and the 
funds were entrusted to Seth Pease. He left Suf 
field on the 8d day of A])ril, and proceeded to 
Schenectady, to organize his coinpaii)'. 

Mr. Thomas Mather, of All>any, New York, 
assisted him in this business. It appears that the 



.lOUKNKY TlIKOU(4Jl NEW YORK. 277 

Land Company did not siip])ly tlieni freely with 
money, for lie says : 

" Thursday, A]))' 11 1-itli. — Spent the week thus 
far in getting necessary supplies. The want of ready 
cash, subjects me to considerable inconvenience. Mr. 
Mather purchases the greater part on his own 
credit ; and takes my order on Mr. Epiiraim Root, 
Treasurer." 

pease's journal. 

April loth. — Helves were put into the axes, and 
they were ground. Rations began to be issued, and 
the camp utensils, left there by General Cleaveland, 
were again brought into use. Delayed on account 
of the compasses not being ready, which were to be 
made at Ballstown, by Mr. F. Young. 

Ap)'il 20th. — Six boats started up the Mohawk. 
Each mess of six men received for daily rations, 
chocolate, one pound; pork, five pounds; sugar, a 
small porringer ; one bottle of rum ; one-half bottle 
of tea ; flour or bread, not limited. A man, his wife 
and a small child, taken on board one of the boats. 

April 22(7.— Warham Shepard, sent back to Balls- 
town for another compass. Doan, Holbrook and 
Forbes sick. 

Ajyril 2-ith. — Arrived at the Little Falls of the 
Mohawk. Paid for lockage $12 07. 

April 25th. — Reached Fort Schuyler, where 
Phineas Barker joined them, and also Mr. Harts 
boat. 



278 AT GERUNDIGUT BAY. 

April 26 fh. — ^Tlie men very mucli fatigued. 

A2)rU 27 fh. — Reached Fort Stanwix (Rome, New 
York.) 

Ajyril 2Sth. — At Oneida lake, joined by Ezra 
Wait and Samuel Keeny. 

April SOfh. — Made the portage around Oswego 
Falls. Mr. Pease obtained his trunk, left at Three 
River Point, the year previous. 

J£(fj/ Isf. — Passed Oswego Falls portage, with the 
freight, ran the boats over the rapids and reached 
the Fort. Detained by storms till Wedmesday, May 
3d, and that day reached Salmon creek, one mile 
west of Great Sodus bay. The next day arrived at 
" Gerundigut " bay ; and found their expected arti- 
cles were not there. Oliver Culver, Samuel Spafford, 
and Daniel Clark joined .the comj^any. 

''Friday, May 5//?.— This morning Mr. Redfield 
took charge of the men and stores. I started for 
Canandaigua, on a horse hired of Dunbar. (Dunl)ar 
was a mulatto hunter or squatter at the bay). AVent 
to Richardson's, ^vhere Mr. Hart was waiting for me, 
and we rode in company to Canandaigua." 

" 3fay G///.— Found Moses Shepard (or Shepherd) 
at Sanborn's (or Sanburn's) who had i)rocured 2)ork, 
flour, cheese, whisky, horses and cattle. Conversed 
with Mr. Augustus Porter, about taking the super- 
intendency of the surveys tliis summer, who con- 
cluded he could not attend to it ; and advised me 
to j^roceed according to my instructions. 



AT CANANDAIGUA. 279 

Sinidaij^ Mluj ^ith. — Sent the hired horse by Mr. 
N. Doan to Gerundigut, and also Mr. Hart's ; gave 
liim a crown for expenses. One of our hands, by 
tlie name of Rowley, came to this place last night 
with his clothes, and inquired the way to Whites- 
town. It is reported he has left us, which I find to 
be so. 

Maij 10th. — The land j^arty in charge of Major 
William Shepard are : Warham Shepard, Thomas 
Gun, Hubbard T. Lindsley, Peleg Waterman, (i)rol)- 
ably Washburn.) Amzi Atwater, David Eldridge, 
Josiah Barse, Minor Bicknell, Jotham Atwater, John 
Doane, Doctor Shepherd. 

Thursday, May 11 fJi. — Departed from Gerundigut 
a few minutes 2:)ast G o'clock, A. M. Our fleet con- 
sisted of Major Amos Spafford, Seth Hart, Seth 
Pease, Joseph Tinker, David Beard, and N. Red- 
field, and six boats. I left one boat in charge of 
Moses Warren to l>ring on the whisky and other 
stores, expected this day. Reached Oak Orchard, 
forty to forty-five miles. 

S/niday, May 14///. — Arrived at the garrison at 
Niagara, and gave the commanding officer. Captain 
Bragg, my letter. I went in, but we were not per- 
mitted to inspect the works, which were undergoing 
repairs, and went on to Queenstown. 

On Monday we concluded to send boats No. 278 
and 280 T^ack to Gerundiugt, in charge of Beard 



280 ARRIVES AT (ONNEAUT. 

and Tinker, for the rest of the stores. Put up at 
Ingei'soll's. 

Friday, Maij 19^/^— Started from Chippeway with 
two boats, one for myself and one for Spafford. 
lieached Buffalo before night, and found the land 
])arty had T)een here since last Tuesday. They had 
bought and borrowed some Hour and taken some 
fish, l)ut lived very sparingly. Major Shepard, Dr. 
Shepherd and Warliam Shepard came in this even- 
ing with three horses and a compass. 

May 20th. — Major Shepard set forward with the 
horses and cattle by land ; head winds. 

Jfoiu/ay, May 2 2</. — Started at o'clock, A. M. 
Reached Cataraugus about 4 o'clock, P. M., and tried 
to get an interpreter, but could not. The Indians 
stole eight to ten pounds of (^ur pork and ham, 

Friday, 26f/i. — Wind favoralde and steady during 
the day. We kept our coiu'se outside of Pres(|ue 
Isle about '<) o'clock, and reached Conneaut before 
sunset, making no stop this da}\ Found the en- 
trance good. 

About 2 o'clock at night the ^vind shifted, rolled 
in a heavy sea, broke the painter of one of the boats, 
and set it adrift. There was a cry that our boats 
were all gone. As there was no living without 
them, we resolved to follow them, l)ut liap})ily they 
were not driven out of the creek, and were soon 
secured, setting a guard the rest of the night. We 
found that Mr. Gun's family had removed to Cuya- 



DEPARTURE FOR CLEVELAND. 281 

lioga. Mr. Kingsbury, liis wife and one child, were 
in a low state of health, to whom we administered 
whiit relief we could. Phineas Barker has not 
l)een able to do much for seven days, on account of 
fever and ague. 

Jfomlai/, May 29//'. — Major Spafford started at 
half past 10 o'clock, A. M., to run the line between 
towns 10 and 11, in the 1st, 2d and 3d Kanges. 

2Iay 30th. — Landon and Parker came on with 
their boats. 

JTay Slst. — I left Conneaut about 10 o'clock, A. 
M., with our boat; the other, destined for Mary 
Easter's, was almost ready to start, and was to wait 
there for Major Spaiford. The cattle were all ready 
but three, which the men were in search of. We 
had a fair wind till about 2 o'clock, P. M., when it 
came ahead. We partly unloaded the boat, and 
dre\v it into a small creek, about twenty miles west 
of Conneaut. Phelps and Parker put into the same 
creek. 

Thui'sday, June 1st. — Started at 7 o'clock, rowed 
five or six miles, then had favorable wind ; passed 
Grand river at 10 hours 55 minutes, Chagrin liver at 
12 hours 25 minutes, and entered Cuyahoga at 3 
hours 22 minutes, P. M., landing at the store house at 
4 o'clock. That night I was very unwell and had the 
toothache, from wading in the water and taking cold. 

Found Mr. Stiles and Mrs. Stiles well, also Mrs. 
Gun. Mr. Gun had gone back to Conneaut. The 
19 



282 DAVID ELDRIDGE DROWNED. 

men with nie were Major Wm. Sliepard, Dr. T. 
Shepherd, Ezekiel Morley, Nathaniel Doan, and 

Reynokls. Reynolds was set to chopping 

railcnts. 

Saturday, June Sd. — Wind easterly. Two boats 
came in, and informed me that three of onr boats, 
had reached Conneaut, and that Major Spaiford's 
boat was at Mary Easter's on Thursday. This night 
four of our 1 )oats arrived, viz : Spafford's, Warren's, 
Redfield's, and Hart's; property but little injured on 
the voyage. About 11 o'clock this day David 
Eldridge, one of our men, was drowned in attempt- 
ing to swim his horse across the Grand river. He 
was nearly an hour in the water, before he could be 
o-ot out. The boats put into the river, and Mr. Hart 
used every precaution to recover him, without effect. 
His corpse was brought to the Cuyahoga River. 

Sunday^ June ^tJi- — This morning selected a piece 
of land for a burying ground, the north parts of lots 
97 and 98 ; and attended the funeral of the deceased 
with as much decency and solemnity as could possi- 
Idy be expected. Mr. Hart read church service. 
The afternoon was devoted to washing. 

Oleaveland, Monday, June 5tJi. — Began to clear 
land above the bank for a garden, and examined the 
stores to see if every thing was in condition. 

June 6th. — Most of the men worked at the clearing 
got it cleared and fenced. Major Shepard and 
Esquire Warren, set out wnth Andrews as pack- 



PREPARATIONS FOR THE WOODS. 2S'^ 

liorseiiian, to explore the next townsliip south of this, 
iiiid the one next south of Euclid. 

Wednesday, June ^itli. — This morning Kedfield 
started to run the line between Ranges 11 and 12, 
with ten days provision. Returning he is to l^egin 
at the south-east corner of Euclid, run north to the 
lake, and if necessary set off a piece to Wells town- 
sliip. Then go back, and run south to intersect the 
line between Towns 4 and 5. 

Friday, June Wi. — Shepard and Warren returned, 
and report No. 6 in the 11th Range (Bedford) well 
watered and a plenty of mill seats. ^'' '''" '"" They 
traveled over part of No. 7 in the 11th Range (War- 
rensville) and their whole route, w^as over choice 
land, wdth plenty of small creeks — about five of the 
lots they passed through in Cleaveland good land, 
tlien flat, inclined to swampy and bad water. 

This day three parties, Shepard's, Warren's and 
Spafford's were delivered their supplies to start to- 
morrow if the weather permits. Warm south-west 
^vinds — articles delivered to each party ; pork, flour, 
tea, chocolate, sugar, ginger, spirits, vinegar, cheese, 
pepper, empty bags, fire steel and punk, candles, a 
tent, axes and hatchets, pocket comj^ass, measur- 
ing pins, salt, soap, horses. Major Shepard will 
receive his next supplies at the upper head quarters 
— has twenty days provisions. Moses Warren, Esq., 
will go to the south-east corner of No. 6, in Range 9? 
and run east to the Pennsylvania line, then travel to 



284 DIKECTIONS TO THE PARTIES. 

the ten mile post on the first meridian, (Coitsville) 
and run east to the State line, and then run west 
from said point. Provisions for thirty days. 

To Richard M. Stoddard : — You will proceed up 
the river to our head quarters, though I am at a loss 
at present where it will be fixed, but you may take 
the line between the 10th and 11th ranges, and I 
will give you notice on that line, at the nearest cor- 
ner. We shall go as far as possible with our boats. 
If I have an op2:)ortunity I will send a line here, after 
we have fixed our head quarters. If you should not 
arrive here, (Cleaveland) so as to be there in about 
thirty days from this date, I think you had better 
not go up the river, unless you receive another line 

from your humble servant, 

Seth Pease. 

Saturday^ June 10th. — Shepard and Warren's 
parties take their dej^arture about 10^ o'clock, A. M. 
Spaftbrd's and my party moved up the river about 
4 o'clock, P. M. Got near Warren's line, and camp- 
ed on the west bank. Left a frying pan. 

Mr. Jos. Tinker : — I wish you to return and bring 

another boat load of stores as soon as possible. You 

will take four hands, and have such men return as 

are best pleased with the business of boating. I 

wish you a prosperous voyage. 

Seth Pease. 



JOTJRNET UP THE CUYAHOGA. 285 

Mr. David Beard, Sir : — Tlie surveyors have this 
day taken to the bush. We intend to buikl a store- 
house up the river. I wish you and those men who 
came with the boat, and are not to return with Mr. 
Tinker, to re23ort to the head-quarters, and take 
charge of the stores. On our return from the Penn- 
sylvania line, one or two of the surveyors will go 
exploring, and if you choose, you can accompany one 
of them. You will take a boat up the river, with 
three l^arrels of flour and two of pork, some chests 
etc., which Mr. Hart will show you. 

Yours, etc., 

Seth Pease. 

SiDidaij, June 11th. — Run a little beyond my line, 
and camped for the night on the east bank. We 
had to cut off some logs in order to pass. 

Tuesday^ ISfh. — On the river, between Towns 4 
and 5, (Boston and Northiield.) Spafford's party 
started out about noon, to run this parallel. 

Wednesday^ l-lfJi. — Mr. Beard arrived from Cleave- 
land with news that both boats had reached there 
on Sunday night at 10 o'clock. They left one load 
at Conneaut, and brought on Mr. Kingsbury's family. 
We manned his boats and proceeded up the river, 
leaving Morley to keep the stores. Bicknall, (or 
Bicknell,) went in search of the pack-horses. Choat 
followed after Major Spafford, to have At water re- 
turn. There came up the river with Beard, Wm. 
Barker, Choat, the two Aliens, and two men, Mr. 



^86 DiFFICrLTY OF NAVIGATION. 

Brown and Mr. liicliey, who came to view tlie 
eountrv. Last nio'lit made observations for varia- 
tion one desfree sixteen minutes east. Porter's com- 
pass had given just Leh^w the ohl town (Pilgerruh,) 
two degrees east. Mv. Porter called tlie variation at 
the mouth of the Cuyahoga one degree twenty min- 
utes east. Water shallow and swift ; found much 
difficulty in getting along. Camped opposite the 
peninsula. 

T/nn-^dai/, 15M. — Navigation better than j'ester- 
day. Arrived about 1 o'clock A\"here ^ve judged the 
line between three and four would come. Left 
Brown and Ricliey in charge of stores, and went 
down to Morley's camp. Bicknell had not found 
the horse. Jothani Atwater returned, and says that 
Choat lost the lines, and did not iind them till 11 
o'clock ; and that Spatford had run three miles. 

Friilay \<oth. — Sent Amzi Atwater with a boat 
load of provisions to the north-west corner of Town 
4, Range 10, (Hudson). Started up the river, and 
got to the upper camp about 4 o'clock, P. IM. At- 
water came in before night, and said that Rediield 
had run to the place expected, and Avas about going 
to the river A\hen he delivered him the message, and 
Redfield returned to his line. Took the level of the 
water at the peninsula. The ridge is twelve and a 
half feet above the water on the upper side, and 
eighteen and a half feet above it below, making six 
feet fall, and a rock bottom (piite across the river. 



pease's field ]5()()KS. 2S7 

Saturday, Jane l^ith. — Mr. Beard took charge of 
one boat, and myself the other, and proceeded ii]) 
the river, about a mile above where the stream from 
the south comes in, (Little Cuyahoga) to tlie head 
of boat navigation. 

Sunday, ISfh — After landing our stores, we took 
one boat and all hands went down to Morley's camp, 
in just three hours. Minor Bicknell had been to 
Cleaveland for the horse, and had returned with 
him. He lay out without fire or blanket, or much 
l)rovisions, one night going and one coming. The 
horse got there before him. Redfield brought in his 
line north of our camp. Received letters from 
Messrs. Hart and Stoddard. Richard Stoddard had 
arrived with his brother, and wishes employment. 

Monday, 19th. — Spend the day in washing and 
getting ready for the bush. Sent one boat down the 
river, b}' Thos. Tupper with Messrs. Brown and 
Richey. A¥rote to Stoddard to survey more one 
hundred acre lots in Cleaveland. To Mr. Hart to 
have Dr. She})ard come up if he could l)e spared^ 
N. Redhelds party fitted out with twenty-eight days 
provisions." 

The field lx)oks and memoranda of Mr. Pease are 
very full and interesting. They show the movements 
of the various parties of which he was the head, the 
general progress of the work, and the personal inci- 
dents of which such expeditions are fruitful. Al- 
though everything connected with the survey of the 



288 THE OLD TRAIL. 

Keserve, lias some relation to tlie history of this city, 
I have not space to insert all of the transactions of 
year 1797. 

Mr. Pease and his party left the upper head 
quarters on the 25th of June, to resume the survey 
of the south line of the Reserve where it was left oif 
the year previous, twenty miles west of the Pennsyl- 
vania line at the south-east corner of Berlin. They 
traveled along the great Indian trail which passed 
through Stow, crossing the Cuyahoga at Franklin 
Mills, or Kent, then known as the " Standing Stone," 
from a natural pillar of sand rock which stood in the 
middle of the stream, bearing a stinted pine. This 
ancient highway of the savages, passed up the valley 
of Breakneck creek, crossing the summit not far south 
of Ravenna, thence through Edinburg, Palmyra, and 
Milton to the Salt Spring, and thence down the 
Mahoning to the forks of Beaver. 

Pease arrived at the starting point on the 3d of 
July, and took observations for the variation, which 
he fixed at one degree, 30 minutes east. On the sub- 
ject of the irregularities of the compass, he says: 

" The south line was run as follows : From the 
Pennsylvania line to the fifth mile, one degree, twenty- 
one minutes, should have been one degree, twenty- 
five minutes. From the fifth to the ninth mile, one 
degree, twenty-one minutes, should have been one 
degree, thirty-three minutes. From ninth to thir- 
teenth I expect was very near the truth. From 



iRREGtJLAElTlES OF THE OOMPABS. 289 

tliirteentli to fifteenth mile, two degrees, two minutes, 
ought to have been one degree, fifty minutes." 

"From ol^servations made on the various com- 
passes, I find I cannot reduce them to a common 
standard, being differently afl:ected at different places. 
Of two comj^asses on the Cuyahoga river, twenty 
miles south of the lake, one needle was to the left of 
the other ten minutes. At Cleaveland the one which 
was to the left stood fifteen minutes to the right, 
tliough they were not compared precisely at the 
same hour of the day. The magnetic needle is not 
always parallel to itself at the same place, which 
renders the compass an inaccurate instrument for 
numino- lono; lines. The variation is so irreo;ular 
that it admits of no calculation, and must be deter- 
mined l)y observations upon the heavenly bodies." 

FKOM THE FIELD BOOK OF MOSES WARREN. 

Monday, July 17 tit . — Started from the upper 
head-quarters (on the Cuyahoga, above the forks,) at 
1 o'clock, P. M., to continue the 2d parallel, and 
meet Mr. Pease from the south. (Pease was con- 
tinuing the south line of the Reserve to the Tuska- 
rawas). White and Reynolds, chainmen ; Gun, pack- 
horse man and cook ; Hamilton and P. Barker, 
axmen. Barker to return to-morrow. Having lent 
my compass to Mr. Redfield to run the seventh 
meridian, I took one of the Ballstown compasses 



290 TitE OLD PORTAGE PATH. 

that is not esteemed as good, but it traverses well 
with careful usage. Began at a post I set on the 
tenth meridian, (north-west corner of Tallmadge,) 
on the 30th of June. Ran west between Towns 2 
and 3, Range 11, (Portage and Northampton.) 

July ISth. — River fog prevented an obserA^ation of 
the polar star. Struck the right bank of the Cuya- 
hoga river at three miles, forty-five links; thirteen 
chains, ninety-eight links from the Portage tree, 
which I traversed in three courses, the last crossing 
the river. I then traversed the path to course No. 
23, and encamped at a run on course No. 7. Sent 
Barker back after crossing the river. By good ob- 
servation of the polar star, I found the variation to 
be two degrees and 2 minutes east. 

(Ttdy 19 fh and 20fh. — Continued the traverse to 
Tuskarawa landing, at course No. 74. At No. 72 is 
a large white oak, marked with many Indian hiero- 
glyphics. In this vicinity are many Indian camps. 
The traverse from the second parallel by the j^ath is 
658.53 ; length of the portage, 64'4.55 chains. 

ffuli/ 21st. — Continued a traverse down the river, 
from which I was allured by Mr. Pease's pack-horse 
man, who sounded the Indian whoop, and being 
answered, refused to reply as we neared him. Mr. 
Pease connected his traverse with mine at No. 96, 
about forty chains south-west of the landing. Re- 
turned to the upper head-quarters with Mr. Pease 
and party, in the evening. Except the Cuyahoga 



OUTLOTS AT CLEVELAND. 29l 

hill, the Portage will admit of an excellent road, and 
that is not so formidable as the one at Queenstown, 
Upper Canada. 

''Aug. r^th, 1797, 5 o'clock, P. M.— By the grace of 
God and good health, left Cleaveland with Joel 
Hawley, Thomas Tupper, chainmen; Matthew L. 
Gilgore and Enoch Eldridge, axmen; Sylvester 
Smith and Chester Allen, horsemen, with three 
horses ; two hundred and sixty pounds of flour, one 
hundred and thirty pounds of pork, twelve pounds 
of sugar, four pounds of Chocolate, one and a half 
pound of tea, six quarts of rum, one half peck of 
beans, one camp kettle, one frying pan, and six tin 
cups, for a tour of thirty or forty days, to proceed 
to No. 1 in Range 10. Encamped about two and a 
half miles from head-quarters." 

SURVEY OF THE TEN ACRE LOTS IN THE TOWN OF 
CLEAVELAND. 

"central highway," or EUCLID STREET. 

"■Atigust 20t7i. — Began at the post at the east end 
of Huron street, (Euclid Street Church,) north-east 
side of the City of Cleaveland, run thence north 
eighty-two degrees east, setting a post at every tally, 
to the west line of the one hundred acre lots. High- 
way, one hundred and fifty links wide. Kan back 
on south side, south eighty-two degrees west, setting 
posts opposite the first at every tally, to the city 
line. The posts aforesaid are bounds of the high- 



t}9!2 THREE :\[ATN HlGIlWAYt;. 

way and corner l)onndings of the lots, and are 
marked H. Numbers to be put on wlien tlie cross 
lines are run. 

"south highway," or kinsman street. 

A}i<j}(st 'IXst. — Began at tlie end of Erie street, 
and ran south seventy-four degrees east, twenty-six 
tallies, one hundred and seven links, to the line of 
the one hundred acre lots, setting and marking posts 
at every tall}' ; and then ran a line one hundred and 
fifty links south, sixteen degrees Avest of this, back 
and parallel to it, setting posts as before, each being- 
marked like its opposite, to Erie street, west side. 

"north highway," or ST. CLAIR STREET. 

Tnesday, AtiguKif 22(1. — Went to a post at the end 
of Lake (Federal) street, south-east side, and ran 
north fiftv-eiQ:ht deo^rees east to the one hundred acre 
lots, setting the posts on both sides as I went, the 
north side posts being at right angles from the 
others, and one hundred and fifty links therefrom. 
Land swampy and scalded ; will require causeway- 
ing to make a good road, l)ut can be passed as it is. 
Returned to the city." 

On the 23d and 24th the middle lines, between 
the above roads, were run, and the 2)osts set at the 
proper distance for the rear corners of the out-lots, 
generally known as the "ten acre lots," although 
there is no uniformity in the quantity. By opening 



AT water's personal NARRATIVE. 293 

these main highways froni the outskirts of the city, 
spreading like a fan to the east, the lots fronting 
them increased in quantity as they receded from the 
town. This was done to make them of equal value, 
the most distant containing enough more land to 
make this equality, their fronts being equal. 

STATEMENT OF AMZI ATWATER, 

RELATING TO THE SURVEYS OF 1797, MADE IN AUGUST, 1850. 

I was one of the first surveying party of the Con- 
necticut Land Coni2:)any, in the year 1796, and en- 
tered their service again about the middle of April, 
1797. I joined the company at Schenectady. The 
company procured six boats and a sufficient quantity 
of suitable stores for the expedition. These boats 
were the common batteaux for the navigation of 
rivers and lakes, as practiced in those days. They 
were supplied with four oars, setting posts, paddles 
and a moveable mast and sail. 

We ascended the Mohawk river through the old 
locks at Little Falls, wp to the carrying place at 
Rome. The canal there was in progress, but not 
completed. The boats and stores were got across into 
Wood creek. Down that narrow, crooked stream, 
we got along somewhat easier than up the Mohawk 
river, which I may say was a sore job for raw and 
inexperienced hands like myself. In 2:)assing down 
this stream which had long been known l)y boat- 



294 RUNNING THE OSWEGO FALLS. 

men, Ave passed, in a small inlet stream, two large, 
formidable looking l)oats, or small vessels, Avhich 
reminded ns of a seaport harbor. A¥e were told 
that they w^ere the season before conveyed from the 
Hndson river, partly by water and finally on wheels, 
and to be conveyed to lake Ontario ; that they were 
l)uilt of the lightest materials, and intended for no 
other use, than to have it published in Europe that 
vessels of those dimensions had passed those waters, 
to aid land speculation. 

We passed down and across the Oneida lake, and 
past the Oswego Falls into lake Ontario. 

At Oswego Falls the boats were unloaded, and 
were run down a slide into a natural basin, and a 
pilot employed to steer them to the lower landing. 
The stream looked dreadful (in my eye) to run a 
boat. But I considered that as Ave had a pilot Avho 
followed the business at fifty cents a trip, I A\'ould 
I'isk myself for once. I belonged to the first boat, 
and took my station in the bow strictly attending to 
the pilot's orders. We went quick and safe, and I 
was cured of all my former fears. I Avent back to 
attend my OAvn luggage. I met the pilot on his re- 
turn from his second tri]), Avho requested me to go 
down Avith the other boats, and I accordingly did. 
We passed doAvn to the lake and stayed some time 
for fair Aveather, then Avent on as far as Gerundigut 
bay and up to the landing, Avhere the boats took in 
provisions. This Avas a sIoav and tedious Avay of 



INDIAN CLAEVrS. 295 

conveyance, but it was the way which some of the 
early settlers of this country moved here for want 
of a better, 

I was sent with a party of those men who could 
be best spared from the boats, to Canandaigua and 
its vicinity to collect cattle and pack horses for the 
use of the company. In a few days I was ordered 
with those men to drive to Buftalo, and take care of 
them until Maj. Siiepard of the exploring and equal- 
izing committee came on. We drove there and 
across the creek for safe and convenient keeping. In 
a few days the Indian chiefs came and demanded of 
me three dollars for pasturing the cattle and horses* 
I thought it unreasonable as the land all lay open to 
the common as I considered it, but I went with them 
up to Capt. JoimsoN, the Interjireter, and plead my 
case as well as I could, but I was no match for them 
in pleas and arguments. I concluded to pay their 
demand with their consent, that we might stay as 
long as we j^leased. Soon after one of our horses 
strayed away up to the Indian village, and they sent 
it back without asking fee or reward. 

In a few days Maj. Siiepard came on and took 
the command, and we arrived at Conneaut the 25tli 
of May. 

After a short time of preparation, we went to the 
various stations assigned us. I w^ent with Maj. 
Siiepard to run the north lines of the townships of 
Monroe and Sheffield in Ashtabula county. A part 



296 SURVEYS CO.ALMENCED. 

I ran under his direction and inspection. This \vas 
the lirst time 1 undertook to use a surveyor's com- 
pass. 

After this I Avas ordered ^vith a party of men to 
take the horses and cattle to Clevehmd. We got 
along very well until we got to Grand river : we had 
no boat or other means of conveyance across, except 
we found an old Indian bark canoe which was very 
leaky — we had one horse which I knew ^vas a good 
swimmer, I mounted him, and directed the men to 
drive the others after me. I had got perhaps half way 
Avhen I heard the men on shore scream — T looked 
back and saw two men, with horses in the water but 
had parted from them — one of them got ashore, and 
the other, David Eldkidge, made poor progress. I 
turned my horse as quick as I could and guided him 
up within reach of him, when I very inconsiderately 
took hold of his hand, as soon as I could. This 
turned the horse over, and we were both under the 
water in an instant ; but we separated and I again 
mounted the horse, and looked back and saw him 
just raise his head above the water, but he sunk to 
rise no more, — this was June od. 

We l)uilt a raft of flood-wood, lashed together Avitli 
barks, and placing on it three men ^vho were good 
swimmers, they with hooks drew up the body, but 
this took some time — perhaps two hours. We took 
some pains to restore the l)ody to life, but in vain. 
Two of our boats came up soon after with a large 



THE 310KAVIAN TOWN. 297 

portion of the men. Tliey took the l)0(ly to Cleve- 
land iind, Ijui'ied it in the then newly laid out buiy- 
i ng-ground. 

We then Avent on with the cattle and horses, and 
arrived at Cleveland without any further difficidty. 

After a few days of preparation, the two boats, 
Avith some of the surveyors, started up the river 
with the assistants and provisions. I, with one or 
two other men, was sent by land to get the horses 
up above the mouth of Tinker's creek, for the use 
of the surveyors. Not far above the creek, w^e found 
the remnants of some old huts, partly overgrown 
with thorn and plum trees, one or more fragments 
of doors were fastened with nails, which to me was 
a curiosity to see in such a place. I suppose they 
Avere the remains of the old Moravian settlement, 
but of this I may be mistaken. I found the boats, 
and gave up my charge of the horses to the survey- 
ors, and went on board the boats. We got them 
along very slow, the river was very low, and in some 
places trees had fallen into the stream and obstruct- 
ed the channel, and in others, stones had to l)e 
I'emoved, and all hands had to join, lift l)y the sides, 
and get one boat up some distance, and then go back 
and get the other. When we got up to the north 
line of Boston, Mr. Pease wishing to give some 
directions to Mr. Redfield, who was supposed to be 
near the north-Avest corner of Hudson toAvnshi]^, I 

Avas sent up thei^e Avith a back load of provisions 
30 



208 INDIAX A'ISITOES. 

and some directions for him. I passed the falls of 
Brandywine mills to the corner of Hudson. ISTot 
finding Kedfield there, I erected a staging some ten 
feet high, and deposited the provisions and directions 
covered with a bark, Avhicli I had peeled for that 
purpose, and returned to the boats. After we got 
some distance above the Peninsula, we found it some 
better, but not very good there. The weather was 
very Avarm, A\'ith frequent showers of rain ; I think 
my clothes were not entirely dry for near a week. 
We succeeded in getting the boats past the old 
Portage, and al)out half a mile above the south 
branch of Cuyahoga, where Ave established a camp. 
I Avas left there in charge of the provisions and 
stores, while some of the surveyors run lines to the 
Pennsylvania line, and others back. I erected a 
shed covered with barks, to cover the provisions, 
iSzL'., and a tolerable good bark camp for myself 
The survcA'ing parties were frequently coming and 
going, and once in a AN'hile the boats came up, some 
sick and others well. While there, two or more In- 
dian hunters Avere camped some distance, near the 
river, below us ; one of them fi'equently visited us. 
He Avas very active, and more talkative than Indians 
generally, and could talk a little of our lingo. I 
had learned a little of the Indians, and between us 
both, by signs and motions, we could convey ideas 
tolerable Avell. AYe felt anxious to gain information 
respecting Indian paths and some of the streams, 



A LITTLE MOllK WIILSKY. '2\)\) 

.'iiul from liiiu we got soiue valuable iiiforniatioii to 
us. 

lie sliowecl a year on Lis thigh, ^vhich hjokecl as 
though it might be a gun-shot wound. I understood 
liini to tell, how his horse was shot under him 
at the battle, Avhen Gen. Wayne defeated the In- 
dians some years before; he made the motions how 
his horse plunged down, and he scrambled oft" in the 
l)ushes, lie often repeated, "Capt. Wayne very 
good man, Capt. Way'ne very great man." Mr. 
Pease wishing to go to the salt spring and convey 
some provisions, employed this Indian to go witli 
his horse and convey a load, who was gone but three 
days when he came back near night. I set before 
him some victuals I had cooked, when he handed me 
a fe^v lines from Mr. Pease, stating how he got 
along, and I must give him a quart of whisky, or 
liiore. I went and filled a junk bottle and presented 
it to him, with more ceremony than I am in the 
habit of using, as a present from the big Captain, 
(Mr. Pease). He went oft' to his camp with many 
praises of us all. Next day he came back and pre- 
sented a deerskin, for the big Captain, and then the 
1 )ottle, " A little more whisky." I put on my most 
serious countenance, and told him we had but little, 
and our brethren would come in from the woods, 
some of them sick, and we should want it for 
medicine, Ijut drew my finger across the side of the 
bottle, telling how full I would fill it, but he must 



300 THE NINTH ^MERIDIAN. 

not ask for any more; I accordingly did so. He 
next day came back and brought the bottle, but 
never asked for any more whisky, although he fre- 
quently visited the camp, 

I think it was the 4tli of July, Mr. Warham Shep- 
ARD and I, were sent to run the 9th meridian, begin- 
ning at the north-east corner of Hudson, and running 
south to the south line of the Reserve. I commenced 
the line and run ]:)etween Streetsborough and Hud- 
son the first day, then Shepard took the compass 
and I the chain, thus we proceeded on, alternately to 
the south line of the Reserve, then returned to the 
camp. Next, we were ordered to the fifth meridian. 
(See Greneral Bierce's statement). After that was 
completed we all returned to head-quarters at 
Cleveland. Then we were directed to run out a 
few more of the remaining out lots of Cleveland, 
then to lot out the township of Warren sville, and a 
part of Bedford. This completed, my work was 
finished for that season, for I was taken sick with 
the ague and fever. 

Sickness prevailed the latter part of the season to 
an alarming degree, and but a few escaped entirely. 
William Andrews, one of our men, and Peleg 
Washburn, an apprentice to Mr. Nathaniel Doan, 
died of dysentery at Cleveland, in August or Sep- 
tember. 

All those that died that season, were of my party 
who came on with me, with the cattle and horses, in 



Deaths in the paety. . 301 

the spring, and were much endeared to me as com- 
panions, except Tinker, our principal l^oatman, 
who Avas drowned on his return in tlie fall. At 
Cleveland I was confined for several weeks, ^vith 
several others much in the same situation as my- 
self, with little or no help, except what we could 
do for ourselves. The inhabitants there, were not 
much better off than we were, and all our men were 
required in the woods. My fits came on generally 
every night, and long nights they appeared to me ; 
in day-time, I made out to get to the spring, and get 
some water, but it was a hard task to get back 
again. My fits became lighter, and not so frequent, 
until the boats went down the lake as far as the 
township of Perry, which they were then lotting out. 
The cold night winds, and fatigue to which I was 
exposed, brought on the fits faster and harder. I 
considered that I had a long journey before me to 
get home, and no means but my own exertions, a 
large portion of the way. 

I procured a portion of Peruvian bark and took 
it, it broke up my fits and gave me an extra appe- 
tite, but very fortunately for me we were short of 
provisions, and on short allowance. My strength 
gained, and I did not spoil my appetite by over 
eating, as people are in danger of in such cases. I 
soon began to recover my health, but soon after Maj. 
Spaffoed started with a boat down the lake, with a 
sufiicient number of well hands, and a load of us 



302 JOURNEY IIOME^YA^lD. 

invalids to the number of fourteen in all. We 
passed on tolerable well do^vn beyond Erie, opposite 
the rocky sliore; there arose a dreadful looking 
cloud with a threatening, windy aj^pearance ; the 
wind was rather high, but some in our favor. Maj. 
8pafford was a good hand to steer and manage a 
boat, they double manned the oars on the land side 
to keep off shore, and we went fast, till we got past 
the rocky sliore; few or no words spoken, but 
immediately the wind came very heavy so that no 
boat could have stood it. There we staid three days 
without being able to get away. We got out in the 
evening, went below Cataraugus, where Ave were 
driven ashore again, where we lay al)Out Uvo days, 
still on short allowance of provision. The next time 
Ave had a tolerable calm lake, and safely arri^^ed at 
Buffalo. By that time I had so recovered as to feel 
tolerably comfortable, and pursued my journey home 
on foot to Connecticut. 

FROM AN ADDRESS BY GENERAL L. V. BIERCE. 

On the ath of July, 1707, AN'akhaai Shepaed and 
Atwater were sent to surA^ey the Otli meridian from 
the 4th parallel south to the south line of the lie- 
serve — one carrying the compass, the other the chain, 
alternately. Soon after their return to camp, after 
finishing that Avork, all the surveyors came in, and 
re])()rted all the loAver lines run, except the r)th, Oth, 



BICKNELL TAKEN SICK. oOo 

and 7tli meridians. To complete tliese, Redfield was 
ordered to the Ttli, Stoddaed to the 6th, and Siiep- 
AED and Atwatee to the 5th, which was the west 
line of Trumbull and Ashtabula. 

Stoddaed being lame, Atwatee took his compass 
and run his line ten miles, when he met Stoddaed 
with one man, who took the line and finished it. At- 
watee with one man then left that line, and met Mr. 
Shepaed at the north-east corner of Palmyra. Here 
he found Shepaed sick with the dysentery, and 
Mestoe Bicknell, the man who accompanied Atwa- 
tee, was taken with a violent fever. Atwatee took 
the compass and run seven miles, between Brace- 
ville and Windham, when Bicknell became too 
unwell to ride on a horse. In the language of 
Judge Atwatee, in a letter before me, "here was 
a difficult case to know what to do. We were at a 
great distance from any comfortable place for the 
sick. Medicine we had none, and ignorant of its 
use if we had it. No guide but our compass, or 
township lines. To get him to Cleveland seemed 
most desirable if it ^vere practicaljle. We were in 
hopes some of our boats were at our late camp, Init 
how to get him there was the question. Neces- 
sity was the mother of invention." They took two 
poles and fastened them together with I'jark, so as 
to go by the sides of the horses like thills of a 
wagon, one horse following the other, so far apart 
as to admit a man to lie lengthwise between them. 



304 HE DIES IN THE WOODS. 

With barks and blankets they made his bed as 
comfortable as possible, and by twisting l)ark ropes, 
lashed it to the pack-saddles. Atwater left Siiep- 
ARD with one man to run the lines as best he could, 
and started with the sick man for Cleveland. Tliey 
went south to the corner of Palmyra, tlien west on 
the third parallel. The next morning after they 
started, Atwater sent a man ahead to have a boat 
ready at the Upj^er Head Quarters, to carry the sick 
man down the river. Atwater proceeded west to 
the corner of Stow and Hudson, on the ninth meri- 
dian, then south to the old Indian trail from Fort 
Mcintosh to Sandusky, where he met his messenger 
with the disagreeable intelligence, that the camp 
was broken up and the boats gone. Atwater then 
directed him to go to Cleveland, and get a boat to 
come up and meet him at the south line of Indepen- 
dence. Atwater then proceeded on the west line 
of Stow to the north line of Summit county, then 
west to the place for meeting the boats. In this 
litter they had thus conveyed Bicknell, al^out five 
days and a distance of fifty miles. He had a high 
fever all the time, and had his reason but a little 
part of it. They arrived at the river early in the 
forenoon of July 25th, and Bicknell died about two 
hours after. Tinker, with the boat and Dr. Siiei^- 
herd, arrived a little after noon. Atwater urged 
to have the corpse carried to Cleveland, but the 
boatmen would not consent, and he was Imried 



SORRY TIMES IN CLEVELAND. 805 

near the river, on the south line of Independence, 
on land since cleared by Esquire Frazer. 

This, says Judge Atwater, in the letter I have 
before referred to, " was the most affecting scene of 
my life. My feelings I cannot attempt to describe. 
My fatigue was great during the whole distance. 
My anxiety stimulated every power I possessed of 
body or mind. 

I was in perfect health, and in the most active 
part of life, but when I had got through and the 
man was dead, and my extreme fatigue was at an 
end, it seemed as if every nerve was inistrung; and 
in ordinary circumstances, I should have thought 
myself entitled to a few days' rest. But we were 
obliged immediately to leave there, to return and 
find Mr. Shepherd." 

Atwater and his company followed the marked 
line east to the north-east corner of Portage county, 
where they found he had got the line up there, and 
he and his party were in good health. 

The whole company then proceeded to run the 
line to the lake, which completed the township 
lines. Thus was completed the survey of the 
Western Reserve, east of the Cuyahoga. 

Towards the latter part of the season sickness 
prevailed to an alarming extent. Boat loads of sick 
were sent off early in the fall. Says Judge At- 
water in the letter referred to, " I was at Cleveland 
in a sad situation — and all others were aljout as 



oOC) JOSEPH TINKER. 

l)ad as I was. When the ht was off, I with a g-reat 
(h'al of exertion conhl go to the spring and get a 
little water, and set it by the side of my old hear 
skin and blanket, where I lay through the long- 
nights of ague and fever, and all around were much 
in tlie same situation. Oli ! these were days and 
nights of sorrow and affliction." 

Tinker, the principal boatman, was discharged in 
the fall, and in going down the lake, with three 
others, the l)oat was capsized near the mouth of 
Chatau(|ue creek, and Tinker and two of the other 
men 'sv^ere drowned. 

It appears in the field notes, that some of the me- 
ridians were run from the north southerly, and some 
of the parallels from the west easterly, as Avas most 
convenient. The parallels in the first four Ranges 
south of Town 0, were not run in 170(), wliicli thus 
formed a part of this years work. In running tlie 
first five miles from the State line, thev srenerallv 
began at the 1st meridian, and ran east to the Penn- 
sylvania line; fixing the town corners wherever the 
intersection took place. 

Thus the several parties pursued tlieir work during 
the summer and fall. The equalizing committee, was 
very busy exploring and surveying, comparing notes 
and arranging the parcels for a draft; fully deter- 
mined that the work should be closed tliat season. 
Cleveland Avas the central point of all operations. 
and particularly as a general hospital. " On the 0th 



PEASE^S JOURNAL. 307 

(^f August, at half past one, P. M., Peleg Waslil)urn, 
the ap]irentice to Doan, died of dysentery, and Avas 
l)uried the same evening. (Pease's Journal.) 

Tnesdaii^ Aug. 8///. — Sick list: Major Spafford, 
Sol. Giddings, Canfield, Barse, Hancliett, Linsley, 
Clark. On the 10th Samuel Spafford and Lot San- 
ford started to do my settling duties in Euclid, and 
tlie same for Dr. Shepard. 14th, Solomon Shepard 
came in sick. IGth, Escpiire Warren and party, came 
in from running the four southern tiers, all Avell 
1 sth, went out to explore a road to the southward. 

Sunday 1<S///. — Mr. Hart started for town 5, in the 
11th Range, where lledheld is at work. Warren is 
running out the ten acre lots. 

Wednesday, 2od. — Reynolds taken sick. The com- 
mittee is busy comparing notes. 26th, I took the 
oversight of the new house, (south of Superior 
street,) and shingled it this day. 

Sunday, Aug. 27 fit. — Jotham At water, from 
Shepards and Atwater's party, came in sick with 
fever and ague. Green set out to take his place, 1)ut 
returned at night, sick. What men were well, Avorked 
on the house. Sick list this day: SoL Giddings, 
Hine, Can-field, Green, Sol. Shejjard, Doctor Shepard, 
Mr. Hart, Reynolds, Hamilton, Clark and Linsley. 
The Committe concluded to have Escpiire Warren go 
up to the Portage, and explore there and some towns 
on the river. 



S08 CONTINUED SICKNESS AND DEATtt. 

Monday^ Aug. 2Sth. — Esq. Warren set out with 

Mr. Abbott and Mr. , of Pennsylvania, whom 

the Committee hired; also, Chester Allen and James 
G. Stoddard, who had liberty to change berths with 
Allen; and take provisions to Stoddard's party. 
This morning I was very unwell, but attended to 
business part of the day ; had chills, head-ache, back- 
ache and fever. Took a sweat and felt somewhat 
relieved, slept comfortably. 29th, more comfortable ; 
preparing a place for the Committee to transact 
business; in the afternoon fever and chills again. 
31st, Tinker arrives with the boat, Choat and Coe 
left on account of sickness. Weather very rainy. 

Saturday, Sept 2d. — Majors Spaiford and Shepard 
are to survey and explore some towns east of the 
Chagrin river. Escaped the fit last night ; tAvelve 
persons sick. 

Monday, ^tli. — Doctor Shepard wenf to see Mrs. 
Parker, (probably the wife of Charles Parker in 
Mentor.) Andrews very sick of dysentery. 5th, I 
have another lit, which lasted till 10 o'clock, at night. 
7th, I had a violent fever. Andrews died about 8 
o'clock, at night. 

Friday, Sfh. — Andrews interred. I am weak, but 
better than yesterday. Cannot furnish hands for 
Shepard's and Atwater's party, till more arrive. 
Warren and party return from the Portage. Abliot 
sick of fever and ague. 

(Here Warren takes up the journal.) 



MR. PEASE DISABLED. 309 

Saturday, ^dth. — Mr. Pease had a hard lit of fever 
and ague. Shepard and Atwater surveying the ten 
acre lots. 

Monday, 11th. — Pease took four large doses of 
l)ark, (Peruvian.) At 10, he had a paroxysm and 
slow fever. Alex. Allen comes in from Redfield un- 
well. Their horse strayed away. 

Tuesday, 12th. — Our invalids are Sol. Gidings, Eli 
Canfield, Josiah Barse, Thos. Green, Luke Hanchet, 
Sol. Shepard, John Hine, Sol. Sanford, and Jotham 
Atwater, who took their discharges, and started for 
home on a boat, to he taken as far as Gerundigut. 
Spaftbrd arrives this afternoon. 

Wednesday, 13th. — The committee sat. Kedfield 
came in at night. 

Thursday, l-lth. — The men cleaning their clothes. 
Redfield's party made search for their horse to no 
purpose. They are jealous of the Indians about 
there, and think they have stolen him. 

Friday, l^th. — Stoddard and his party came in 
all well but one, and he able to move about. 

Saturday, 16th. — Shepard, Atwater and Redfield 
start to lot No. 6, in the 11th Range, (Warrens ville.) 

Tuesday, Vdth. — Stoddard and party could not 
hnd their pack-horses. 

Wednesday 2^th. — He started early to help the 
other surveyors, in No. 6, Range 11. 

(Here Pease resumes the Journal.) 



310 SURVEYING lUETIES LEAVE CLEVELAND. 

Wednesday, 2'itJi. — Three parties came into cani]) 
in 2:)retty good spirits, having finished No. G, Range 
11, wliich they lind to he a most excellent toAvnship. 
Landon is shoeing the horses, 

Fnday, 2dth. — Three parties made u]), and are to 
go with the committee in the l)oat. The horses 
assigned l)y lot, Mr, Redtield has tlie "Hannah" 
horse, Mr, Shepard the " Morton " mare, Mr, Stod- 
dard "Mary Esther," and Mr, Landon the "Stow" 
horse. Sick Roll: Amzi Atwater, Chester Allen, 
Alexander Allen and Clark Reynolds, Tapper is 
not well, l)ut aljle to cook. Linsley and William 
Barker sick, 

Saturday, 'M}tJi. — Fonr 2)arties of surveyors start 
this afternoon. Exj^tect to l)e at Grand River in 
nine days. 

/Sunday, Octohtr Ist. — Had a touch of fever and 
aofue : not violent. 

Monday, "Id. — Paid Samuel Spafford towards four 
and a half days' clearing, in Euclid, at 5 shillings, 
three crowns, $3,30, Gave Mr. Hart a purse con. 
taining four dollars, left with me, supposed to be 
Minor Bicknall's. Nathan Chapman credit by two 
bushels of wheat, $4,50. 

Tuesday, "iSd. — Started from Cuyahoga with one 
boat. Major Spafford taking the helm; also Esquire 
Warren, Col, Wait, Samuel Spafford, Phineas Bar- 
ker, David Clark, Wm, Barker; passengers, Doan, 
Reynolds and Forbes. Stores: Three bbls. pork, 



:\IR. PEASE DEPARTS, 811 

five bbls. iloiir, four or five Ujs. sugar, a trifie of 
Avhisky and rum. We liad chests and Laggage 
enough with our stores and men, Avho wei'e mostly 
sick, to load the l)oat. Left the mouth of the river 
alj(^ut 10 o'clock, A. M., wind fair. In the afternoon 
run ashore and spoke ^vith some strangers, from 
Harpei'sfield, in New York. Col. Moss, who ap- 
l)eared to be the principal man, rode on to Cleve- 
land: with him was Capt. Har})er and another 
gentleman. Capt. Harper took j)assage in our boat 
to Chagrin river. Passed Major Spafl^brd and his 
l^arty, who started from Cleveland, by land, about 
the same time we did, and were going to Grand 
river. Entered the Chagrin about dusk, with some 
difiiculty on account of shoal ^vater, pitched oiu' sail 
for a tent, ate our supper and stretched ourselves 
l)efore a good fire for sleej). 

Wednesday, 4fJi. — Violent storm during the night 
and all this day. Upset our camp and disturbed 
the river so the boats were moved to a safer part of 
the harl)or. Major Spafi^brd came on with his party, 
Tupjier and Culver, iUid four horses. Concluded to 
go with him by land; rode to Mr. Parker's and 
lodg-ed there. Lio:ht frost. 

Thio'sdaf/, bill. — Wind fair. Before our horses 
^vere saddled, our boat passed the house under fine 
lieadAvay. We rode to Grand river, and Captain 
Harper accompanied us on foot. Found the Ijoat 
safe in the river ; took dinner and moved up stream 



:]\'2 GKAN1> UIVEK. 

above the Indian settlement and encamped on the 
west side. 

I')'iJ(n/, OM. — The three gentlemen \ve saw the 
other day going to Cleaveland, hailed us. As they 
contemplated becoming settlers, we furnished them 
\\ith a h)at' of bread. Capt. Harper went with 
them, and all bid us good bye. Shepard took Tup- 
})er and went to ex])lore No. 11 in Range 0, and Xo. 
11, Kange 5, to return in two or three days. Spaf- 
ford and A\^arren returned from exploring No. 11, in 
the Stli Kange. 

Satt(/'(/((>/ "ith. — Shepard and Kellogg came in 
sick. Aj^propriated Grand river township. 

Sandaij, StJi. — Opened the second barrel of }>ork 
and found it very poor, like the first, consisting 
almost entirely of heads and legs, with one old sow 
l)elly, teats two inches long, meat one inch thick. 

JlonJaf/, [^t/i. — Determined to lot No. 11, Kange 
7, and to appropriate gore No. 12, Kange 0. 
She])ard came in. 

Ti/csJift/, 10th, Grand river. — Stoddard returned 
a little before sunset. Had finished his work except 
a line in No. 11, Kange S, on which, through mis- 
take, he started wrong. 

Wednet<Jaf/, 11th. — Stoddard went back to finish 
his line. Mr. KedfiekVs pack-horse man came in 
Avith news that Kedfield Avould be here before night, 

I'liesday, 12th. — Spaft'ord and Shepard start on 
an exploring expedition, to nieet us at Conneaut, 



JOSEPJI TINKER DROWNED. .'H 3 

111 the Mt'tcniooii I sturted for ConiKjaut in the l)oat. 
Encamped at the nioutli of(iraiid river, 

Friday^ ly>tJi. — Warhani Shepard and lleynolds 
we left at the middle of No. 11, llange 7, to guard 
stores, Avhich we landed. Camped at the hnrning 
springs, al)out three miles further. I tried one of 
them Avitli a candle; the l)uLl)les would flash like 
spirits, Avhicli I repeated three times, and the candle 
was put out l)y Avater. 

(The party impeded by head winds.) 
Conneaut^ 22^/. — Mr. John Youngs called on us, 
and says that Joseph Tinkei", — — Peirce and Capt. 
Ed^vards Avere drowned on the 8d inst., in the night, 
near Shaddauque, (Chataucpie, ) in a violent gale, 
u})setting the boat. Joel Hawley escaped, l)ut gave 
only an imperfect account how it happened. The 
lioat belonged to Mr. Abbott, who was not on board. 
There Avas some loss of property, of whicli three 
hiuidred dollars, in bank bills, belonged to Mr. 
Al)l)ott, and the boat was much injured. The 
bodies of Tinker and Peirce were found, near the 
shore, on the lOth, and interred at Sixteen-mile 
creek. We learn further, that a man by the name 
of George Clark, was murdered on the 25tli of Sej)- 
tember, on the Big Beaver; supposed by the Indians, 
\vho were seen with him the evening before the body 
was found. He Avas Avounded in the head Avith a 
rifle, and stabbed in the left side, Avith a knife. One 
of the Indians had a rifle, and the other a knife. 
21 



314 DEPARTURE FROM CONNEAUT. 

The Indians were arrested by Mr. Youngs, and 
another gentleman and committed to prison at Pitts- 
burg. 

Monday^ Oct. SSc/. — Had a fit of ague and fever, 
which continued until night. 

Tuesday, 2Uli. — ^Sold the roan mare and saddle to 
Nathaniel Doan, and took his note for thirty-two 
dollars. Mr. Youngs, Mr. Warren and Mr. Doan set 
out for Buffalo creek, this morning. Mr. Hart arrived 
with his boat. 

Conneaut, Oct. 2oth. — We are short of pork, not 
having more than three-quarters of a barrel, and 
receiving none by Mr. Hart's boat, must send one 
boat over to Chippewa. Accordingly fitted out one 
under Major Spafford. She took on board all the 
men, sick and well, except Mr. Hart, Wm. Barker 
and myself They were Colonel Ezra Wait, Amzi 
Atwater, Doctor Shepard, George Giddings, Samuel 
Spafford, David Clark, Eli Kellogg, Alexander and 
Chester Allen, H. F. Linsley, James Berry and Asa 
Mason. Major Spafford to wait at Queenstown for 
the other boat. Major Shepard started by land, for 
Buffalo creek, with Warham Shepard and Thomas 
Tupper. Parker agreed Avith Mr. Hart, to take the 
Stow horse to Buffalo creek. 

October 31st, 1707. — Mr. Hart and myself started 
from Conneaut, after sunset. Our hands were Lan- 
don, Goodsel, Smith, Kenney, (Keeny,) Forbes, 
Chapman and James and Richard Stoddard, with a 



LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE. 815 

land breeze and our oars, got witliin two miles of 
Presque Isle. (Rediield's party left in the woods.) 

Jv^ov. 1st. — Near Lowrey's Creek, Richard and 
James Stoddard took their route by land. Had a 
slight fit of the ague. 

JVov. 2(L — At Lowrey's creek got a (j^uart of milk, 
which Mr. Hart paid for ; and bought two oars. 

y^ov. Sd. — Arrived at Buffalo creek at 4, P. M., 
found Major Shepard, Esquire Warren, and several 
of the sick men. Major Spaftbrd came in yesterday. 

Sunday ^tli. — The two Aliens, Eli Kellogg, and 
Thomas Tuj)per, started for Grenesee. Samuel Forbes, 
E, Chapman and the two Parkers, accompanied 
them; the two Parkers having arrived, with the 
Stow horse, from Cleveland. 

JSfov. QfJi. — This day the rear guard came up. Mr. 
Redfield, the two Nyes, Enoch Eldridge, the two 
Barkers, Shubal Parks, (or Parker,) Jacob Carlton, 
Clark Reynolds, and Richard and James Stoddard, 
with four horses ; snowing moderately all day." 

It does not appear, from the field notes, that the 
latitude of Cleveland was determined, either in 1796 
or '07, or that the instruments were broug'ht here for 
that purpose. In fact, the position of this place was 
not fixed, astronomically, until January, 1859, when 
the late Lieutenant Colonel J. D. GRAiiA]vr, of the 
United States military engineers, in charge of the 
light houses on the lakes, determined the latitude of 
the new court house to be forty-one degrees, thirty 



316 NO MINERALS DISCOVERED. 

minutes, five seconds, north ; and the longitude from 
Greenwich, eighty-one degrees, forty-two minutes, 
six seconds, west; ecj^ual to five hours, twenty-six 
minutes, forty-eight and one-tenth seconds, time. As 
the longitude was determined from Cambridge, 
Mass., by telegraph, and that is the best established 
point in America, from Greenwich, by chronometer, 
this may be regarded as correct ; unless there shall 
be a correction for Cambridge; since the Atlantic 
cable has connected it with the prime meridian in 
England. 

Neither do any of the field notes, letters or reports, 
connected with the surveys of the Land Company, 
refer to the existence of iron ore, or coal, on the Re- 
serve. The south line, as far west as the Tuscarawas, 
was run over beds of coal, and the east line, for 
about thirty miles- All the townships east of the 
Cuyahoga, were explored in 1796 and '97; of which 
about one thii'd were underlaid by strata of ore and 
coal, without being discovered. The first coal 
worked, to my knowledge, was taken from the bed 
of a small run, a mile west of Talmadge center, in 
1810, and was used by blacksmiths only. In 1828 
it was first brought to Cleveland, in small quantities, 
for the same purpose. As late as 1838, only a small 
amount was mined in the Mahoning valley, near 
Youngstown. 

Mr. Pease, with the other surveyors and commit- 
tee-men, remained at Canandaigua to finish the par- 



t>ROCEEDINGS OF THE LAND COMPANY. 317 

tition, and make up their reports ; a work wliicli the 
stockholders expected would have been concluded a 
year sooner. On the 13th of December, 1T97, the 
committee reported upon the four townships, each 
of which had been surveyed into one hundred lots, 
containing one hundred and sixty acres. 

The surveyors for these towns were: Nathan 
Redfield, Eiciiard M. Stoddard, Phineas Barker 
and Joseph Landon. 

The towns selected by the committee, as the most 
valuable, were Nos. 5, 6 and 7, of Range 11, and No. 
11, of Range 7; now Northfield, Bedford, Warrens- 
ville and Perry. 

At a meeting held at Hartford, Januaiy 23, 1798, 
Farjiers Brother and Red Jacket received a dou- 
ceur of hfteen dollars each for expenses, ten dollars 
in cash and five dollars in goods. 

" WJiereas, The Directors have given to TABriHA 
CuMi Stiles, wife of Job P. Stiles, one city lot, one 
ten acre lot, and one one hundred acre lot ; to Anna 
Gun, wife of Elijah Gun, one one hundred acre lot ; 
to James Kingsbury and wife, one one hundred 
acre lot ; to Nathaniel Doan one city lot, he l)eing 
obliged to reside thereon as a blacksmith, and all 
in the city and town of Cleaveland. Voted, that 
these grants be approved." 

Another tax of twenty dollars a share was laid. 
The Company having given up all ambitious hopes 
of being one of the powers of the Union, now ofler 



^18 LOEENZO OARTEiR. 

their political title to the Congress of the United 
States, and in case it is accepted, they empower Mr. 
Swift to desire Governor St. Clair to lay off a ne^Y 
county comprising the Western Reserve. 

Donations of land to actual settlers were author- 
ized. The committee on roads, report in favor of 
constructing a road near the lake, from Erie to 
Cleveland, with a branch from Townsliij) 1 0, llange 
8, (Lenox, Ashtabula county,) t(^ the Salt Spring, 
on the Meander creek. 

As the Six Nations claimed a part of the fifteen 
hundred dollars promised to the Mohawks, at Buf- 
ftdo, June 24th, 1T9G, "it is ordered that this sum 
be })aid to Israel CiiAPMAisr, Superintendant of 
Indian Affairs, to l)e distributed by him." At the 
same meeting a conunittee was appointed, author- 
ized to prosecute or settle Avitli the heirs of Sa]muel 
II. Parsons for their claim tc* the Salt Si)ring tract. 

MEMORANDA OF JUDGE BARK. 

Major Lorenzo Carter, who came hero in 1707, 
was a great acquisition to the settlement. lie was 
perfectly fearless, and otherwise peculiar!}' fitted to 
meet the perils of the wilderness. He was an expert 
marksman, and an enthusiastic hunter ; the terror of 
the deer and bear of the neighborhood. 

On the west side of the river, at the mouth, was a 
natural moTUid, covered with trees, (see GayloriVs 



EARLY BURIALS. 319 

sketch.) Strange as it may seem, in the early days, 
and as late as 1820, persons have walked across the 
mouth on a sand bar, the channel being frequently 
closed up by storms. Kingsbury and Gun, came 
here from Conneaut, early in 1797, remaining that 
season, when they removed to the ridge, in what was 
afterwards Newburg. Ezekiel Hawley, came to 
Cleveland the same year. Kingsbury built a shanty 
east of the Public Square, and Gun occupied one of 
the Company's cabins, until one was built on River 
street, north of St. Clair, near the cupola opposite 
WmsLOw's warehouse, (1842, late Hussey & Mc- 
Bride.) Hawley built on the hill, on the north- 
east corner of Water and Superior, now (1842,) 
owned by Nathan Perry. The Land Company, 
the same season, put up a double log cabin, on the 
south side of Superior, east of Vineyard lane. 
Charles Parker and Ebenezer Merry, settled in 
Mentor the same year, and each sowed a crop of 
wheat, from seed obtained at Conneaut. 

Mr. Eldridge, one of the employees of the Land 
Company, who was drowned in crossing Grand river, 
was the first person buried in the city of Cleveland. 
The first burying ground was on lot 97, between 
Prospect and Huron streets, east side of Ontario, 
which was removed to Erie street in 1835. Peleg 
Washburn, who was an aj^prentice to Nathaniel 
DoAN, as a blacksmith, died of dysentery in 1797. 
At this time, a death or two excites little attention ; 



320 SICKLY TBIES. 

hut when wo reflect liow few there were in this 
country at tliat time, their distance from lu)nu>: (U's- 
titute of the necessaries and comforts of civilization, 
a deatli and a hnrial, was an occurrence of no small 
moment. 

This was a sickly season. The old settlers ha\-e 
often remarked, in reference to those melancholy 
times, they could not have got alono- withont the 
o-ame which Major Carter killed, and the attentions 
of his irenerous wife." 



BIOCRAFHICAL SKETCHES. 



The liistoiy of every memher of the surveying 
parties of 179G-7, has a deep interest for their des- 
cendants, a large iiiim})er of whom reside in the 
country, of whicli they were tlie first thorough ex- 
j)lorers. They pursued their toilsome way, during 
those years, over iiW that part of the Reserve, east 
of the Cuyahoga, leaving perpetual evidence of 
their track through the forest, in measured lines, 
marked upon the trees. 

( )nly a few of the hands employed l)y the com- 
pany on the surveys of 1790, returned to the work 
in 1707. Of those who passed that year in the field, 
l>ut a small portion T>ecame settlers. The formal 
com])act of Sept. 80, 179G, in reference to the settle- 
ment in Euclid, was carried out, })y not more than 
two. Probably the severe labors of the survey, 
cooled their admiration of the new country. Many 
of them underwent the ordeal of fever and asrue, 
which was abundantly sufficient to damage their 
faith in the "])romised land." 



^2^ t:ZEKlEL MORLE^. 

A courageous man, who might be willing to 
encounter this miserable disease, which prostrates 
every form and grade of ambition, would not will- 
ingly expose his family to it. They saw that no 
civil government existed, or was likely to exist. 
Some of the surveyors, like Spafford and Atwater, 
determined to take their chances, and spend their 
days in New Connecticut. Doan, Gun and Clark, 
also became settlers. Of those who returned to 
New England, very few were again heard of here. 

At the recent pioneer meetings, the private history 
of a small number of them has reached us. San- 
FORD, Culver and Morley, survived long enough to 
hear of those movements, to rescue from oblivion 
the enterprises of their youthful days. 

EZEKIEL MORLEY. 

BY ALFRED MORLEY. 

Kirtland, Ohio, June T, 1858. 

Mr. Whittlesey :— In reply to your enquiries in 
regard to Ezekiel Morley, I will answer as nearly 
as I can. He was an uncle of mine, not my 
father. He was born in Glastenbury, Connecticut, 
in I7r)8; died in Chester, Geauga county, Ohio, 
August 0th, 18r)2, lacking nine days of ninety-three 
years. 

Emigrated from Genesee county, New York, to 
Chester, Ohio, in 1882. He was a Kevolutionary 



LOT ^ANFORD. 3^^ 

soldier, and drew a pension of ninety-six dollars a 
year. Was one of the surveying party in running 
the lines of the Western Reserve in 179G — '97, and 
assisted in erectino- the first los; cabin that was built 
in Cleveland. He supposed himself to be the first 
Avhite luan that saw Chagrin Falls. Enclosed you 
will find his sio;nature. 

My father was seventeen months older than luicle 
EzEKiEL, and was a Revolutionary soldier. He 
died where I now live, aged eighty-six years and 
six months, having lived with the wife of his youth 
sixty-three years, 

Youi's Truly, 

Alfred Morley. 

LOT 8ANF0RD. 

STATEMENT OP A. W. PERRY, lUS SON-IN-LAW, AND OP R. W. 
PERRY, A GRANDSON. 

Shokeiiam, Vt., November 21, 1859. 

We have consulted with Lot Sanford, who was 
not in the surveying party of 1790, but in that of 
1797. 

He was born September oth, 1773, and was one 
of the party who went out to survey the Western 
Reserve. Aivios Spafford was the chief surveyor of 
this party. No particular incident happened on the 
outward journey, except the accidental death of 
David Eldridge. He undertook to swim his horse 



324 THE FIRST GARDEl^. 

across Grand river, although strongly advised to the 
contrary, and the animal proving unequal to the 
task, Eldridge was drowned and his body carried 
on to Cleveland, and buried on the banks of the 
Cuyahoga. Sanford assisted in digging his grave, 
thus performing the office of sexton to the first white 
man who Avas buried in Cleveland. 

The company arrived and established their head 
quarters, building a log house, and enclosing a gar- 
den for the purpose of raising their vegetables^ 
Sanford laid a fence around this garden, being the 
first fence ever built in the town. 

There had been a log hut built at this place the 
year previous, by the same party. 

Seth Hart, the agent of the company, was left 
in charge of the head quarters. No incidents are 
mentioned while the party was out surveying, ex- 
cept the death of Minor Bicknell, who was taken 
sick with fever, and was carried through the woods 
fifty miles before he died. He was buried near the 
Cuyahoga, probably about thirty miles from the 
present site of Cleveland. 

Soon after arriving at head quarters, two more of 
the party — Andrews and Washburn — died, and 
were buried by the side of ELDRmcE. Several mem- 
bers of the company are mentioned, among whom 
are Samuel Spafford, (son of Amos,) and Olrer 
Culver, who were chainmen; Andrews was flagman, 
and Sanford — the subject of this sketch — went as 



sanfoed's company. 325 

axman. He, with eleven others, left Cleveland the 
12th of September, 1797, and returned to Orwell, 
Vermont, where he then lived, arriving the 3d of 
December. In April, 1804, he removed to a farm 
which he had purchased in Shoreham, Vermont, 
where he has since lived, being now in his eighty- 
sixth year. 

The two Barkers, Alpheus Choat, David Clark, 
Oliver Culver, the two Nyes and Amos and Sam- 
uel Spafford were ft'om Vermont; the two Gid- 
DiNGS were from Connecticut. Sanford and Sa.muel 
Spafford chopped four acres of timber in Euclid, 
the first ever choj^ped for settlement duties. 

About eight or ten years ago Job Stiles died in 
the town of Leicester, Addison county, Vermont. 
My brother has heard Stiles boast of putting up 
the first house in Cleveland. Sanford retains his 
mental faculties in a good degree, but is infirm from 
a paralytic stroke he had about tAvo years since, and 
therefore he cannot write you, but I send you his 
autograph, written before. He feels a lively interest 
in the historical articles published in Cleveland, 
which are read to him. You cannot better compen- 
sate him and his wife, who still lives, than by send- 
ing him such articles." 

Mr. Sanford died at Shoreham, April 20, 1860, 
on the farm he had cultivated since 1804, beinir 
eighty-six years and seven months of age. He there 
acquired a competence, living for more than fifty 



330 OLIVER CULVER. 

years in communion with tlie Congregational church, 
of which he was a liberal supporter. His wife died 
in June, 1865, at the age of eighty-two. 



OLIVER CULVER. 

At the pioneer celebration of October, 1858, 
Oliver Culver, of Ne^v York, one of the surveying 
party of 1797, was present, supposed to be the only 
survivor. Lot Sanford was, however, then alive. 

The following letter gives a brief history of Cul- 
ver, who may still be living. 

Rochester, July 29, 1800. 

John Barr, Esq. — Mr. Oliver Culver, of Brigh- 
ton, to-d^y called on me, and handed me your letter 
of March 27th, 1800, in which you request hiui to 
state the date and place of his 1:)irth, and to send 
his autograph, for the Pioneer society of Cleveland. 
Mr. Culver would willingly send his autograph, l)ut 
he can not, because for some time past, his sight has 
so much failed, that he does not write, even his own 
name. In all other respects, his health continues 
robust and good. Mr. Culver Avas l)orn at East 
Windsor, ILartford county, Connecticut, Septendier 
24th, 1778; and will be eighty-two years old on the 
24th of September next. 

When he was five years of age, soon after the 
peace of 1783, his father removed from East Wind- 



OLIVER CULVER. 327 

sor, to Ticonderoga, N. Y. After a short residence 
there, he removed to Orwell, Vermont, where Mr. 
Culver remained with his parents, nntil the spring 
of 1797, returning home, occasionally, until 1805. 
In February, 1797, he hired, wdth his father's consent, 
to Amos Spafford, to accompany him with a party 
of surveyors to the Connecticut Comj)any's Lands. 

Early in March, 1797, he was sent by Amos Spaf- 
ford, with his son Samuel Spafford, on foot, from 
Orwell, Vermont, to Schenectady, New York, to 
arrange for boats, and ascertain when they would 
he ready to carry the party on, from there up the 
MohaAvh. Samuel Spafford wrote back to his 
father, that the Mohawk would not be clear of ice, 
and the boats ready to start, before the first of 
April : and that he and Mr. Culver would go on to 
Ironduquoit bay, and there camp, and hunt, until 
the surveying party arrived. They did so, traveling 
by land, on foot, well provided with arms, ammuni- 
tion and provisions. At Ironduquoit bay, they 
camped, and boarded with Asa Dunbar, and family, 
a trapper, who was a mulatto man, from the Mohawk 
country, of whose location they were informed at 
Schenectady. They remained there hunting, and 
curing the skins taken, about six or seven weeks, 
until the surveying party under Mr. Spafford 
arrived, about the last of April. 

At Queenstown their boats were drawn over land, 
on carriages, with teams, by some Canadians, and 



328 RETURN TO VERMONT. 

launched at Chippeway, from Avlience they crossed 
to the mouth of Buffalo creek, and coasted up from 
there along the south shore of lake Erie. At Cleve- 
land the party erected a log house. Mr. Culver was 
a chain bearer, that season at twelve dollars a month. 

When cold weather arrived, the party I'eturned to 
Vermont. Mr. Culver, and Samuel Spafforu stop- 
ped a few weeks at Dunbar's, and continued their 
hunt, with the object of collecting peltries. 

Late in Decmber, after the snow became too deep 
for hunting, they traveled on foot to Orwell. In 
1798, Mr. Culver went to Cleveland, in a party of 
eighteen men, employed as before, to assist in cutting 
out a road, to the Pennsylvania line, on "which they 
worked that season. In 1800, he bought his present 
farm in Brighton, Monroe county, New York, cleared 
seven acres, and sowed it to wheat, and got a good 
crop. 

Up to 1804 he was emploped three years at Iron- 
duquoit landing, by Augustus (triswold ; superin- 
tending an ashery. In 1804 he went to Cleveland, 
with a boat load of salt, diy goods, liquors, and 
tobacco, cfec, and opened a store. Tlie vessel ^vas 
loaded at Black Bock, freight paid, three dollars per 
])arrel. She was built at Erie, by Setii Beed, and 
commanded by Capt. Dobbin. In 1805, Mr. Culvek, 
married and settled on his faruL His ^vife died a 
few weeks since. I write this by his direction. 

Respectfully, yours, tfec, 

J. M. Hatch. 



SETH PEASE. 329 

When CuLVEK, re-visited the city fifty-four years 
jifter his mercantile triji, its identity with the sickly 
and scattered town of 1804, could scarcely be traced. 
He was conveyed through long and compactly l)uilt 
streets, covering nearly all the ample space allotted 
by the surveyors for city and out-lots. When he 
last saw them, they were not distinguishable from 
tlie surrounding forest, except by an occasional horse 
trail, and l)y blazed lines upon the trees. 

SETH PEASE. 

The personal history of Mr. Pease, the most 
prominent of the surveyors, of the Land Company, 
is but imperfectly transmitted to us. According to 
Mr. Atwater, he " was above medium height, slen- 
der and foir, with Idaclv, penetrating eyes. In his 
movements he was very active, and persevering in 
liis designs, ^vith a reflecting and thoughtful air. 
lie was a ver}^ thorough mathematician." 

FROM a letter OE RALPH GRANGER. 

Fairpoet, Lake Co., O., Se2:>t. 27, 1848. 
"Setii Pease was my imcle. He was very ])re- 
cise in his business. Besides the minutes necessarily 
returned to the Company, he kept a full j^rivate 
journal. This I have seen, containing records of 
personal adventures with colored landscapes, one of 
which is the first residence of the surveyors at Con- 
neaught. He also brought to Connecticut, from 



330 SETH PEASE. 

Ohio, specimens of minerals, wliicli I have seen, 
among tliem some beautiful alabaster from Sandusky. 
He died at Philadelphia. His wife died in Connec- 
ticut. The only children now living are Mrs. Noah 
A. Fletcher, of Washington City, and Alfred 
Pease, his youngest son, at Dayton, Montgomery 
county, Ohio. This journal may have been lost or 
mislaid." 

His journals, of which a portion for the years 
1795 to 1799, inclusive, are before me, show excel- 
lent penmanship, and precise business habits. In 
1795 he surveyed for the State of Massachusetts, in 
the province of Maine. After the close of the sur- 
veys east of the Cuyahoga, in 1797, Mr. Pease, 
engaged with Porter, Atwater, and others of his 
enterprising old friends of the woods, in the allot- 
ment of the "Holland Purchase," in western New 
York, This service occupied two years, '98 and '99. 
The elections of the year 1800, resulted in the 
success of the "Republican," or Jefferson party, 
over that of the Federalists. Under Jefferson's 
administration, Gideon Granger, became Post Mas- 
ter General, and Mr. Pease, who Avas a brother-in-law, 
was made Assistant Post INlaster General. Judge 
Calvin Pease, of Warren, Trumbull county, Ohio, 
was his brother. In 1806, when the Indian title to 
that part of the Reserve west of the Cuyahoga, Avas 
extinguished, Setii Pease, was directed by the Gov- 
ernment, to extend the southern boundary along the 



NATHANIEL DOAN. 881 

41st piii'allel, west of the river, wliicli he did. There 
is still hope of recovering more of the memoranda, to 
whicli the Hon. Kalpii Granger refers. His skill 
as a draftsman and sketcher, and his facility in 
description will give them gi'eat interest. 

NATHANIEL DOAN. 

Nathaniel Doan, was one of those of the first 
surveying party, who volunteerd for the second 
year's work. He was so well pleased with the new 
country, that he emigrated w^ith his family in 1798, 
and became one of the permanent settlers. In 1799 
they fled from the miasma of the river bank, like 
the majority of the early residents, and settled on 
the Euclid road, four miles from the Cuyahoga, at 
the corners ; where the road from Newburg intersects 
Euclid street. This gave rise to a hamlet, which 
has increased to a village, and which, until recently, 
was known as "Doan's Corners." 

Mr. Doan Avas the blacksmith of the Land Com- 
pany, whose business it was, during the progress of 
the survey, to keep their pack horses well shod. In 
179(S he erected a rude shop on the south side of 
Superior street, 

A blacksmith is a very important member of a 
pioneer settlement. He is soon brought into per- 
sonal acquaintance, with all the neighboring people. 
His shop becomes a central point for gossip, and for 
more serious discussions upon public affairs. Mr, 



332 SETH UOAN. 

DoAN appears to have been an useful smith, and a 
good citizen, llis name appears frequently, in the 
proceedings at elections and town meetings. In 
1(S()4, he was made a lieutenant in the first militia 
company organized here. Nathan Chapman, Avho 
Avas not personally connected with the STirveyors, 
but wdio a])pears to have been on the Keserve, from 
the year 1790, as a purveyor of beef, and a trader, 
Avas a friend of Doan. Chapman had no family, 
and died at Doan's Corners in 1814. Do an died at 
the same place, in 1815. The Avidow of the late 
Edward Baldwin, of Cleveland, once the sheriff 
and treasurer of Cuyahoga comity, is the daughter 
Nathaniel Doan. 

The late Setii Doan, who was his nei)he\N', in a 
statement made to James S. Clakk, Esq., in January, 
18-41, remarks, "that a boat was despatched in the 
fall of '98, down the lake, to a mill ten miles west of 
Erie, at Walnut creek, for flour ; but it was beached 
and destroyed, at Euclid Point. They had occasional 
communications A\itli Detroit, through straggling 
Frenchmen and Indians. There w\as, as yet, no set- 
tlement at Buft'alo or Black Rock, nor any between 
Cleveland and the Ohio river. The one at Presque 
Isle, or Erie being the nearest. When we arrived, 
there were three or four clearings, of about two 
acres each. One between Water street and the 
bluff, just north of St. Clair street; another near 
Stiles' house, on Bank street, and one near Haw- 



KLIJAII GUN. 333 

ley's at tlie end of Superior street, wliere the 
"Central Buildings," (Atwater Block,) are now 
standing." 

ELIJAH GUN. 

Althongh Gun, like Stiles, came to Ohio with 
the surveyors, and spent a large part of his life in 
the vicinity of Cleveland, his personal history has 
not been well preserved. On the approach of old 
age, he left the pioneer homestead, in Newburg, and 
removed to the Maumee river, to the residence of 
his son, near Napoleon, Ohio. Little has come 
down to us, of his occupations, and of his trials at 
Conneaut during the winter of l79G-'7. Both 
himself and his wife, appear to have endured the 
hardships of those days better than many of their 
cotemporaries. His cabin, at Conneaut, was about 
a mile above Stow Castle, on the creek. He reached 
a very advanced age, nearly or quite, four score and 
ten, dying among his kindred, on the banks of the 
Maumee. 

AUGUSTUS PORTER. 

Although Augustus Porter survived all the 
other surveyors, and lived on the shore of lake Erie ; 
his personal history is here imperfectly known. He 
appears to have attached much value, to the water 
power at Niagara Falls, and at the head of Niagara 
river, where the navigable waters of the lake term- 
inate. After spending about ten years in the woods 



o34 AUGUSTUS PORTEK. 

as a surveyor and explorer, principally in tlie west- 
ern part of New York, lie establislied himself for 
life on the Niagara liver. One reason why we are 
not better informed in regard to him, is given in the 
following extract from his letter to Judge Baku, 
dated at Niagara Falls, Jan. 10th, 1843. 

" Had I all my original papers connected with the 
subject above named, such as my journal, original 
field notes of the survey taken on the ground, cal- 
culations on contents, geographical remarks, of per- 
sons employed, <fec., <fec., 1 should be able to give 
you such information, and it would give me much 
pleasure to do so. But unfortunately all these 
documents were lost in my dwelling house at this 
place, destroyed in 1813 by British troops." 

This letter is quite lengthy, going over in much 
detail, the operations of 1796 in the field, which he 
conducted. I have made less use of it than other 
writers upon the pioneer times, because, being en- 
tirely a production of the memory, after the lapse of 
forty-seven years, it is occasionally contradicted by 
wi'itten evidence of the same date. Of what relates, 
to himself he should be the best authority. He 
says : 

"That in the early part of the year 1789, being 
the next year after Messrs. Goriia:m: ct Piieli's, had 
made their great purchase of the State of Massa- 
chusetts of about six millions of acres of land, lying 
in the western part of the State of New York, then 



AUGUSTUS PORTER. 335 

known, as the Genesee country, I being in the 
twentieth year of my age, went into the country a 
surveyor, and continued in the business until the 
winter of 179G, most of the time in the employ of 
Oliver Phelps. During the time from 1789 to 
1796, my business led me to become particularly 
acquainted with most of that section of country, 
the navigable streams and small lakes, and the south 
shores of lake Ontario, and lake Erie as far west as 
Presque Isle, (now Erie) in Pennsylvania, and I had 
had considerable experience in the navigation of 
those streams, and the shores of lakes Ontario and 
Erie, in small boats." 

"In running up the first four meridians. Pease 
had delivered his provisions to other surveyors, ex- 
cepting a small quantity sufficient to subsist on until 
I should meet them, which was now all exhausted, 
and of course we had nothing but the flour I had 
procured. I returned to the point where Mr. Pease 
had run the line, and took the direction of the sur- 
vey, and continued the line to the lake. On the 
evening of the first day, we very fortunately, dis- 
covered one of the finest bee trees I ever saw. We 
encamped, cut down the tree, ate to our satisfaction, 
each man filled his canteen, and the residue we put 
in the bags of flour. Excepting for two or three 
days, while our honey lasted we lived on bread 
alone. On our arrival at the lake, we took the 
beach and went east to our camp at Conneaut ; and 



336 THE STKIKE. 

what was remarkable, on our way tliere, we fell iu 
with all three of the parties, who had each finished 
their lines, and joined our party." 

"All things being thus arranged, and al)out to 
muster our men for a start, we found some dis- 
position in camp to mutiny, or, what would now be 
called a strike for higher wages. For the purpose 
of settling this difficulty, Gen. Cleaveland agreed 
that before the close of the season, and after some 
of the township lines should have been run, a town- 
ship should be selected and set apart, to l)e surveyed 
into lots of one hundred and sixty acres each, and 
each individual of the party who should choose, 
might have the privilege of purchasing a lot on a 
long credit, and at a stipulated price named, what 
that ])rice was, I do not recollect. This settled the 
matter, and all l^ecame satisfied. The township 
during the season was set apart, and called Euclid ; 
and as I am informed, still retains that name." 

" On the north side of Sandusky bay, about op- 
posite where the City of Sandusky now stands, there 
was a Frenchman residing with his family, and also 
several Indian families. On our first arrival at the 
bay we went to this place, remained a short time, 
then returned to the mouth of the bay, and resumed 
our traverse. Before we had reached the upper end 
of the beach, or sand bar, lying l)etween the lake 
and bay, we fell in with a party of Indians whose 
actions and looks we did not much like, yet they 



StTRVEYS AT CLEVELAND. .^37 

offered us no injury, und we passed on and concluded 
our traverse." 

"Having returned from Sandusky bay to Cuya- 
hoga, I remained there some time, perhaps two or 
three weeks, and surveyed the outlines of a piece of 
land designed for the town. Its dimensions I do 
not recollect — probably equal to about a mile square, 
bounding west on the river and north on the lake. 
I made a plat of this ground and laid it oif into 
streets and lots. Most or all the streets I surveyed 
myself, when I left it in charge of Mr. Holley to 
complete the survey of the lots." 

Mr. Holley's minutes, as far as we liave them, 
make no reference to surveys ])y him on tlie city 
lots. On the fly leaf of one of the field books, in 
Mr. Pease's hand ^vriting, are brief minutes of the 
lots, their position on the streets, and their contents. 
As yet these are the only original notes discovered, 
and they may have been transcribed by Pease, from 
the work of some of the other surveyors. Mr. Por- 
ter mentions the loss of a l)oatman belona-ing: to 
his party, at Spraker's rift, on the Mohawk, killed by 
a fall from the mast, while he was adjusting a sail. 
This accident is not referred to in the journals of 
Pease or Holley. 

" Immediately after this I commenced the traverse 
of the Cuyahoga river, with the intention of pursu- 
ing the whole line of boundary, as descri])ed in 
Wayne's treaty Avith the Indians, as far as the south 



338 PORTER OlSr TilE CUYAHOGA. 

line of the Reserve. This line began at the month 
of the Cuyahoga, thence up the same to the portage, 
thence across the portage to the Tuscarawas branch 
of the Muskingum, thence down the same, etc. I 
accordingly traversed the Cuyahoga up, until it 
])egan to lead me off to the north ; having kept two 
or three men, looking out continually along the Avest 
side of the river for the portage road, but without 
disco verinc: it. The leaves havins; fallen and obscured 
the path it could not be found, and I returned to 
the mouth of the river." 

Mr. Porter lived to a very advanced age, and 
died on the banks of the Niagara. He was a promi- 
nent citizen on the frontier, as most of the old 
surveyors were. The intelligence and energy, which 
are necessary to make a good surveyor in the western 
wilds, furnish an excellent foundation for an influen- 
tial character. A laro-e number of the leadins: "i^n 
in the new States, and in the Indian wars, belonged 
to this profession, which then not only recpiired 
knowledge and sense, but a reasonable stock of war- 
like skill and courage, to deal successfully with the 
aborio-ines. Gen. Peter B. Porter was a brother of 
Augustus. I regret not lieing able to do better 
justice, to the eventful life of the man who determ- 
ined upon the plan of this city, and who must have 
surveyed some portions of it. Neither his name, or 
that of any of the first surveyors, has been perpetu- 
ated, in any street or place within our limits. 



Lorenzo carter. 3^9 

According to his contemporary, Atwater; Por- 
ter " was full middling in height, stout built, with a 
full face, and dark or rather brown complexion. In 
a woodsman's dress, any one would see by his ap- 
pearance that he was capable, and determined to go 
through thick and thin, in whatever business he was 
engaged. By the bursting of a gun, he had lost the 
entire thuml) of his left hand." 

Mr. Porter received for his services as principal 
surveyor, in 179(5, five dollars per day, and Mr. 
Pease for the same services, in 1797, three and one- 
half 

LORENZO CARTER. 

BY THE LATE ASIIBEL W. WALWORTH. — 184:2, 

Major Carter was a friend of liberty to the 
utmost. He w^as always found on the side of the 
weak and oppressed. His language was, "I hate 
negroes, and do not want them about me." But for 
all that, he did have them about him, most generally 
those that did him the least good. He used them 
as well as he did other people, if they were civil 
and decent. 

To illustrate his goodness of heart, I will relate 
the following facts : 

Early in the spring of 1806, a canoe containing a 
white man, his wife and some children, and a colored 
man, were coming down the lake. The canoe was 
upset, and all drowned but the colored man, called 
Ben, between this place and Kocky river. Ben was 



340 BEN, THE NEGRO. 

a large man, and readied the iron hound shore, 
where there was an old tree which had t\nn])led 
down the rocks; he climbed np it so far as to bo 
clear of the water, and then stayed until lie was 
discovered by some boatmen. When taken off he 
was almost insensible, his feet and limbs were much 
frozen, and he was brought to Major Carter's house 
in that situation. He had no money, and all the 
clothes he had were not worth three dollars. The 
Major took care of him, as he would one of his 
children, all summer. The rheumatism drew his 
limits out of shape, and I think his toes were frozen 
off. Although he hobbled about a little in the fall, 
I do not think he was able to render the least as- 
sistance to the Major. 

Some time in October, 1806, there came to Cleve- 
land two Kentucky gentlemen, well mounted, and 
stopped at Major Spafford's, who lived where the 
Merwin, or Mansion House used to stand. They 
stated that one of them was the lawful owner of 
Ben. The Kentuckians walked over to Carter's 
and made their business known. He told them of 
Ben's misfortunes, and also what he had done for 
him ; said he did not believe in slavery, and he did 
not like negroes. The owner said he wanted to see 
Ben, and if he did not want to go back, he might 
stay where he was; that Ben would say that his 
master was kind to him, and that he could say that 
Ben was a good l)oy, but liad been enticed away. 



It 
NEGOTIATIONS ACROSS THE RIVER. 341 

The Major told him that Ben was away, and he did 
not know where he was, but at all events you can 
never see Ben, without he wants to see you. The 
Kentuckians agreed to that, and told the Major to 
see Ben, and he niiglit have his choice to stay or go 
at his option, Ijut wanted to see him face to face. 
The owner and the Major had a number of inter- 
views, and finally it was agreed that the owner and 
Ben, should see each other near enough to converse. 
Ben was to stand on the west side of the river, on a 
piece of land now owned by Mr. Soranton, covered 
with the heaviest kind of timber, the owner to be 
on the east side, a little below where the widow 
CoLAiiAN now lives, near the end of Huron street. 
At the time they were in conversation, I was passing 
along the top of the bluff, and heard them converse. 
The owner said, "Ben, have I not always used you 
well, and treated you as well as the rest of my 
family d" Ben ansAvered in the affirmative. Many 
inquiries and answers passed, but the conversation 
was marked by good feeling on both sides. Nothing 
further occurred to my knowledge until the next 
moi'ning, or the next but one, when I saw Ben 
mounted on one of the Kentuckians' horses, with 
holster and pistols, etc., and the man on foot, on the 
road to Hudson, about a mile from Major Carter's, 
talking in the most friendly manner. 

Now comes the most inexplicable part of the story. 
It would seem that the Major showed no dissatisfac- 



342 TJNCLE ben's cabin. 

tion to Ben's going with his master ; but two white 
men, one called John Thompson, and the other Jas. 
Cteer, hangers on at the Major's tavern, and nearly 
as useless as Ben had been to him, preceded, or fol- 
lowed and passed the Kentuckians ; for when they 
had got about three miles from Newburg Mills, 
(then called Cleveland Mills,) on the old " Carter 
road," they appeared, one on each side of the road, 
each with a rifle ; and as the Kentuckians and Ben 
were passing, Ben still mounted ; one of the men 

says, " Ben, you d d fool, jump off of that horse 

and take to the woods." Ben obeyed, the hunters 
also ran, and it may be supj)Osed, though not known, 
that the Kentuckians were somewhat astonished. 
However, they never returned to tell of their bad 
luck. The men and the Major kept the secret, Init 
it was found out in this way. In the winter, a son of 
Major Spafford, and a younger brother of Nathan 
Perry, Esq., of this place, were out on the west side 
of the river hunting. They got lost, and wandered 
around till nearly worn out. At last they struck a 
horse's track, and followed it until it brought them 
to a hut, and who did they meet but poor Ben, ^vho 
told them the story and enjoined secresy, which they 
kept as long as was necessary. There was not at 
that time any road on the west side of the Cuyaho- 
ga, not a white person living east of Huron or north 
of Wooster, and perhaps none there. Ben's hut 
must have been in Brecksville or Independence. 



NO ONE ALLOWED TO RUN AWAY. 343 

What became of Ben is not known by me, but he 
was probably sent to Canada. 

In the spring of 1807, (I think it was,) a man, 
perhaps forty-five years old, talkative, forward and 
rather singular, came into the place, stopped with 
Major Spafford and worked for him two or three 
months. One morning Major Spafford came to 
Major Carter's and inquired about the man. He 
said he was at his house last night, and was not now 
to be found, and he did not know but he might have 
walked over to Carter's house. Major Carter had 
not seen him, but says he, "the rascal has run 
away." Major Spafford says, "I think not; he 
brought nothing with him to my- house, and I do 
not know as he has carried anything away; and 
furthei*, I think I must owe him about four dollars." 
"Well," says Major Carter, "there shall nobody 
run away from this place, and I'll go after him ; I can 
track him out." 

He immediately started down what is now Water 
street, to the lake. There was then a number of log 
and Inrush fences across the street. When he got to 
the lake he found the track, and followed it down 
about two miles, when it turned off towards the 
road that leads to Euclid. The Major followed to 
the road, and thence toward Euclid, to near where 
Mr. J. K. Curtis now lives, (Willson Avenue,) 
where he overtook the man. The Major told him 
he must go back to Cleveland. He said, " he would 



o44 TiiK ori.rurr uhrruRNED. 

not go, that ho did not owe anylHuly thoiv, ami had 
not v^toleu anything', and tlie ^Major had nothing to 
do witli liini." The ^[ajor told hini "lie did not 
(.•aiv wliother he went 1>aek or not, l>iit one o\' two 
things you shall <K>, either you nuist go with nie 
peaceably, or be killed and thrown into this eat 
swamp, to be eaten by the wolves and turkey 
birzzards." The ^lajor had a peeuliar manner o{' 
suitiuii" actions and looks, to words. ''Oh I" says the 
man, " it' yini are in earnest. 1 don't eare it' I g\) 
baek." The -Major brought him to ]\Iajor SrAFFOKo, 
^vho asketl him " AVliat made him go ott' in sueh a 
manner; you kno^v I owe you something."' He an- 
swered, 'vl suppose you cnve me a little, but 1 will 
tell vou lunv it is \\ ith me. I have been a nning 
eharaeter. and don't stay but a little \vhile in a ]daee. 
I have been in the habit when I left a })laee to nu\ 
a^vay." ^[ajor Si'AFKOUD told him " it was a bad 
one, and that he had better give it up; besides, you 
eannot run away from tliis plaee." The man said 
"he saw it woidd not do here, and he thought he 
would not try it again." Major Spaffokd to]d him 
" to eat his l>reakfast, and he woidd see in the mean- 
time how nuieh he owed liim, and then he miglit go 
when and where he pleased." The nuiu saiil "he 
had about given up the idea ot' going, and if the 
Major would let him work he would stay," wliieh 
was aiiTeed to, and he stayed two or three 
mouths. 



ANCIENT MOUTH OF CITYATIOGA. 345 

Sometime in the fall of 1798, Major Carter said 
to me, " When I was living in my old log house un- 
der the hill, I saw an Indian coming up the river in 
a canoe. He landed opposite my house, fastened 
his canoe, and with his paddle walked up to where 
I stood. After the usual salutation, he asked, 
' What stream do you call this V " The Major re- 
plied, "the Cuyahoga." "No, no, this is not the 
Cuyahoga. I was here when a boy so high, (placing 
his hand about the height of a boy ten or a dozen 
years old,) and the Cuyahoga was like this," making 
a plan with his ])addle on the ground, which corres- 
ponded with what we call the old river bed. [It 
must be kept in mind, that from the point where the 
parties stood, they could not have a view of the old 
river bed as we can now, on account of the forest.] 
The Major said he had not any doubt, that the river 
used to empty itself at the west end of the pond. 
The Indian appeared to Major Carter to be seventy 
or seventy-five years old. 

Subsecpiently I learned that in the year 1798, an 
old Oneida Indian, whose name was Scanodewan, 
who had been a faithful friend to the Americans 
during their struggle for independence, and was 
much attached to the Harpers, of Harperstown, 
State of New York, followed Col. Alex. Harper 
and family to Harpersfield, in this State. 

ScANODEWAN made himself usefid to the Colonel, 
23 



346 CAKTKU AS A KKGl'LATOK. 

by hunting and procuring game tor the 8U})j)i>rt of 
his family and others. 

Col. Harpek died in the fall of ITOv^, and soon 
after Scanodewan became uneasy, and told the fam- 
ily of Col. Harper that he would go to the lake, 
build a eanoe, and go up the lake. He returned to 
the widow Harper's, and reported to them the 
chano^es that had been made since he had been there 
before, more especially the alteration of the mouth 
of the Cuyahoga river. There can be little doubt 
that ScANODEWAN, was the same man who conversed 
Avith Major Carter on the subject. 

The facts relating to the Indian, I have recently 
obtained from Mrs. Tappex and lier brother. Col. 
Kobert Harper, of Harpersiield, Ohio, Avho is the 
youngest child of the late Col. Alex. Harper, and 
who was eight years old when his father died. 

Major Carter Avas tar from a quarrelsome man. 
I never heard of his lighting unless he Avas grossly 
insulted, and as he Avould say, " driven to it." It 
Avas a common saying in this region, that ^lajor 
Carter Avas all the law Cleveland had, and I think 
he often gaA^e out avcU measured justice. It Avas 
not unfrequent, that strangers traveling through the 
place, Avho had heard of the Major's success in 
Avhipping his man, Avho believed themselves smart 
fighters, thought they may gain laurels by having it 
said that they AA'hipped him. I never heard it as- 



AMOS SPAFFORD. 347 

serted by any one, and never lieard of any one 
boasting, that sucli an act had been performed. 

He was kmd and generous to the poor and unfor- 
tunate, hospitable to the stranger, Avould put himself 
to great inconvenience to oblige a neighljor, and was 
always at the service of an individual or the pul^lic, 
when a wrong had been perj^etrated. In all the 
domestic relations he was kind and affectionate. 

In the year 1812 he was afflicted with a cancer on 
his face, and went to Virginia in 1813 for medical 
aid, which proved useless. He died February 8th, 
1814, aged forty-seven, after enduring the most ex- 
cruciating sufferings for months, previous to his 
death. Mrs. Cahter survived him till October IStli, 
1827, aged sixty-one. 

AMOS SPAFFORD. 

BY JUDGE HOSMER. 

Perrysburo, April 11th, 1843. 

J/y Dear Sir : — Of Major Amos Spafford I have 
been al)le to learn but little. He emio-rated from 
Vermont to Cleveland in 1800 or 1801. He re- 
ceived the ap2)ointment of Collector for the District 
of Miami, and of Postmaster, in 1810, at the com- 
mencement of which year he moved from Cleveland 
to the foot of the raj^ids, and built a small [log 
house imder the table of land, which forms the 
present site of Fort Meigs. 



O-iS rEKKY81UK(; SACKED. 

His first return to the Government shows that the 
amount of exports from this district, at the expira- 
tion of the first (juarter, was three thousand anil 
thirty dollars. It consisted of three thousand do\- 
hirs worth of coon, bear and mink skins, and thirty 
dollars worth of bears oil. Major Spafford culti- 
vated a piece of land, includino- Fort ^leigs, built 
several out houses, and acipiired considerable prop- 
erty here previous to the war. He Avas a man very 
nuich esteemed l>y the American and French inhabi- 
tants, was indeed an adviser and friend to all the 
early settlers. 

xVt the time the war broke out, there were sixty- 
seven white tamilies living on the twelve mile square 
Reserve, and some nine or ten tamilies in the imme- 
diate neio'hboi'hood. The first actual notice the 
settlers had, that hostilities had commenced after 
Hull's troops had marched through to Detroit, was 
the appearance of about forty Delaware Indians and 
as many British, at the foot of the rapids one bright 
morning in July, 1812. The Indians, under com- 
mand of their A\ar chief Sacamanc, by direction of 
the British, entered every house on the north side of 
the river, and after a friendly salutation, took all 
articles of any value which they could find, 
loaded them into the canoes, pirogues and fiats be- 
longing to the settlers, and then passed over to the 
south side. They met Major Spaffokd in his corn- 
field, and were about to subject his house to pillage. 



PETER MANOR. 349 

1)ut were prevented by a salvo of twenty dollars, 
paid tliem hy the Major, which was all the money 
he had. 

With the excej)tion of tlieir chief, Sacamanc, and 
four other Indians, they together with the British, 
left with their plunder hy water, for Maiden. The 
Maumee river was in those days inhabited by a 
species of hybrid, half human, half animal, better 
known at the present time by the name of Canadian 
French. These creatures united in their character 
the cunning of an Indian, and the sagacity of the 
white. They were principally friends to the British 
interest. One among them, who had long been an 
Indian trader, was, however, a true American in 
feeling. His name, Peter Manor, should ever be 
remembered, for he was a true friend of the Ameri- 
cans. He knew Sacamanc, pretended a friendship 
for him and for the British, and learned from him 
that in the space of eight or ten days, it was the in- 
tention of the confederated tribes in the British 
interest to hold a council near Maiden, and in six- 
days thereafter to make a general descent upon 
Monroe, Maumee and the other places on their trail 
to Fort Wayne, Avhither they were going, with 
about fifteen hundred British, to aid the beseigers of 
that fort, for the purpose of pillage, massacre and 
rapine. 

Sacamanc and his four men left for the interior of 
our State, the day after the others had gone to Mab 



350 PEREYSBURa ABANDONED. 

den. Manor visited Major Spafford the next day, 
asked him what he intended to do ; and was inform- 
ed that ]ie intended to remain on the river and 
attend to his business. Manor then told him of the 
conversation he had had with Sacaimano, at whicli 
the Major took aLarm, and conchided to make 
preparations to go down the lake. As the contem- 
plated attack was some two or three weeks distant, 
he was in no hurry. About live days after this, at 
or near ten o'clock in the morning, a man, who was 
brought up among the Indians, and who had been 
befriended by Major Spafford, came running to his 
house in breathless haste, with the astounding in- 
formation, that a party of some iifty Pottawatomies 
were within six miles of the foot of the rapids, and 
that they were massacreing every Yankee they met 
with. The Major spread the news among his 
neighbors. They immediately launched an old 
barge, which was l)uilt by the army a year previous 
at Fort Wayne, and used by Col. Underimick and 
other officers, to come down the river on their way 
to Detroit. 

Having put on board of this crazy hidk, what few 
articles of provision and furniture they could, the 
little party consisting of the Major's family and three 
other fiimilies, set sail for Milan, in Huron county. 
Scarcely had they got under cover of the point, be- 
lo^v the amphitheatre at the foot of the rapids, ere 
the Pottawatomies made their appearance. They 



spafford's farm ruined. 851 

inquired after the Yankees, and were told by Manor 
that they had been gone a week. The Indians stole 
what money and other property the fugitives had 
left, and started for Maiden. Meantime, the little 
barge, fiivored by prosperous gales, reached Milan 
in safety. Major Spafford established his office as 
collector there until after the wai', at the close of 
which he and his old companions returned to old 
Fort Meigs. When they left they had dwellings, 
horses, fine corn-fields, and comfortal)le homes. On 
their return they found their fields destroyed, and 
their horses and cattle stolen by the Indians. Gov- 
ernment promised redress for the injuries committed 
by our army. Their families obtained a small com- 
pensation, for the supposed quantity of corn taken 
from the fields by Gen. Harrison's army. 

This small sum was obtained through the energy 
of Major Spafford, who, on behalf of himself and 
neighbors, made two trips to Washington, and sj^ent 
much time there before aught could be accom2:)lished. 
Nothing disheartened he commenced repairing his 
ruined homestead. Of the old arks that were used 
to transport provisions to our army during the war, 
from Fort Amanda and other j)laces on the Auglaize 
and St. Marys rivers, he constructed a comfortable 
farm house and office, both of which are still stand- 
ing in front of Fort Meigs. He received a grant 
from Government of a tract of land next above and 
adjoining the Fort, which is now owned by his son, 



352 SPAFFORD'S PERSONALS. 

Judge AuEORA Spaffokd, of this place. He retain- 
ed his office of Collector until 1818, when he died at 
his residence. Major Spafford took an active part 
in all the early affairs of this county. He named our 
town Perrysburg, in honor of the hero of lake Erie. 
I have several letters of his in my possession, one to 
General Harrison and one to President Madison, 
setting forth in the most graphic language, the losses 
to which he and his neighbors had been subjected by 
the war, and asking for redress. He was a sound 
headed, pure hearted man, as all say who knew him, 
and as his piipers abundantly prove. 
Yours, faithfully, 

Hez. L. Hosmer. 

In Judge Atwater's description of the personal 
appearance of the surveyors, he says of Spafford, 
" he was more than medium in height, very straight, 
broad in the forehead, with a sober, serious coun- 
tenance ; rather slow in his motions, and on the whole 
was an excellent man." 



1798. 



The committee on partition, Pease, Spaffoed, 
Warren and Holbrook, having reported from Can- 
andaigua, the directors called the stockholders to- 
gether at Hartford, to receive their lands. All the 
territory east of the Cuyahoga was included in the 
partition, except the six townships reserved for sale. 
These were Chapin, now Madison, Geauga county ; 
Mentor, Lake county ; Charlton, afterwards Chagrin, 
now Willoughhy, Euclid, Cleveland, then including 
Newburg, and Weathersfield, or the "Salt Spring 
Township," in Trumbull county. On the 29th of 
January, 1798, the long expected draft took place, 
consisting of ninety-three equal parcels, embracing a 
township or more. On the next day the four allot- 
ed towns were drawn, in four hundred parcels, one 
for each share in the company. These were, North- 
field, Bedford and Warrensville, in this county, and 
the township of Perry in Lake county. 

As the subject of civil government made no pro- 
gress, a petition was again laid before the general 



3 54 . DOAIS^ FAMILY. 

assembly of Connecticut, reciting their numerous 
failures in Congress, and most earnestly praying for 
relief. This was in October, 179S. In December an 
agent was appointed, to urge upon Congress speedy 
attention to their condition, in case the assembly 
should fail them. 

At this meeting. Gen. Cleayelanu's contract \v\t\\ 
the surveyors, made at Cleveland, Sept. 30th, 179(), 
was ratified and assumed In' tlie company. Three 
hundred dollars was appropriated for the improve- 
ment of the Salt Springs, with a view to leasing tlie 
same. A bounty of two hundred dollars cash, or 
a loan of five hundred dollars, was oftered to such 
persons as would put up certain grist mills, and two 
more assessments of ten dollars ])er share levied. 

On the first of May, 1799, no relief had been ob- 
tained upon their petitions for a civil government, 
the losses and delays of their enter2)rise on this ac- 
count were again presented to the State of Connecti- 
cut. This had been so embarrassing to their opera- 
tions, that in the following year, the State Avas ask- 
ed to abate the interest due upon their payments. 

MSS. OF JUDGE BARK. 

"RoDOLPHus Edwaeds ffom Chenango county. New 
York, came to Cleveland this season ; also Nathan- 
iel DoAN and family, from Chatham, Middlesex 
county. Conn. His journey from Chatham occupied 



si^:Tir DOAN. 355 

nhiety-two days. At Utica, N. York, lie was joined 
by liis nephew, Setii Doan, at the urgent request of 
the Litter, who was an ambitious boy of thirteen. 
In IcSOl Setii's ffither, Timothy Doan, moved into 
Euclid, as his future home, Nathaniel Doan" went 
at first into the cabin built by Stiles, and immedi- 
ately put up a blacksmith shop on the south side of 
Superior street, not far east of the end of Bank street. 
Joseph Landon and STEPiiEisr Gilbert cleared some 
ground and sowed it to wheat, on what was after- 
wards the Horace Perry farm. Major Carter 
planted two acres of corn on Water street, just south 
of tlie light house. 

In the latter part of the summer and all the fall, 
every person in the colony was at some time sick 
with fever and ague or billions fever. Doan's fami- 
ly was attacked on the way, and were obliged to stop 
at Mentor, from whence Parker and Church brought 
them here. It consisted of nine persons, every one 
of them sick. Seth Doan was the only one with 
strength enough to do anything, and he had shakes 
every day himself He was a])le, when the fit sub- 
sided to bring a pail of water, and gather firewood. 
For two months this bo)^ made the trip to Mr. Kinos- 
bury's after his daily fit was over, and brought a little 
corn for the sick, which they mashed in a hand mill 
at Newburg. The nearest water mill at that time was 
on Walnut Creek, in Pennsylvania. When Seth was 
unable to go, their only vegetable food was turnips. 



350 DISTREi^SING SICKNESS. 

When Major Carter had an intermission of the 
disease, he and his hounds generally secured a deer, 
Avhich was liberally shared with the other sick fami- 
lies. Carter's family being somewhat acclimated, 
suffered less than the new comers. There was no 
physician to prescribe, and few medicines. 

In the place of calomel, they used an infusion of 
butternut bark, and for quinine and Peruvian bark, 
they substituted dog wood and cherry. For tea and 
coffee they burned corn, wheat, rye and peas. The 
families of Kingsbury and Gun, on the ridge, were 
in good health, and visiting the city as often as pos- 
sible, were untiring in their attentions to the sick. 
Edwards, who had moved to the ridge, was sick, and 
continued so all winter. As the cold weather came 
on, the invalids gradually recovered strength, so that 
by the first of January, 1799, they were in reasona- 
ble health. 

About the middle of November, four of the set- 
tlers who had a respite of one or two days between 
fits, started for Walnut Creek to get flour. As they 
were coasting along the shore below Euclid creek, 
their boat was wrecked in a storm, and they were 
obliged to return. During the winter and spring 
they were without flour, subsisting upon wheat and 
corn, ground in the hand mill and made u]) Graham 
fashion. 

The Land Company caused a road to be surveyed 
and partially worked this year, from Cleveland to 



THE FIRST MILL. 357 

the Penusylvaiiia line, about ten miles from the lake, 
which was the first road opened through the Reserve. 
David Abbott, from Fort Stanwix, New York, set- 
tled at the Chagrin river, and Joseph Burk and 
family, in Euclid. Burton, Harpersfield and Youngs- 
town were also occupied for the first time as settle- 
ments." 

1799. 

" Mr. N. DoAN, moved to Doan's corners in Janua- 
ry, where he lived both l)eloved and respected until 
his decease in December, 1815. After his removal 
Major Carter's was the only white family in Cleve- 
land until April, 1800. In the spring of '99 Wheeler 
W. Williams, of Norwich, Conn., and Major Wyatt 
commenced building a mill at the Falls, in New- 
burg. This being the first mill on the Reserve, its 
completion was celebrated by the pioneers with great 
joy and festivity. During the following winter oui* 
citizens enjoyed the luxury of bolted flour, made in 
their own mills, from wheat raised by themselves. 

Seth DoAisr is the only denizen of the city at that 
time, who still (1842) resides in it. Only four out 
of a population of ffteeii survive. These are Sarah 
Do AN, the widow of Nathaniel, Lucy Carter, wid- 
ow of James Strong, Alonzo Carter, of Newburg, 
(still living, 1866) and Seth Doan, the heroic boy. 

The season of 1799 was very healthy. With the 
exception of Messrs. Willia]vis and Wyatt, and two 



358 TRUMBULL COUNTY ERECTED. 

or three young men who came to Newbiirg, no set- 
tlers arrived this year. Turiiand Kirtland, father 
of Prof. J. P. KiRTLAND, was made Agent for the 
Land Company and visited the Peserve." 

1800. 

In the year 18U0 the inhabitants of the Western 
Reserve found themselves in the enjoyment of a civil 
government. The discussions between the State of 
Connecticut and the United States ^vere composed, 
by the transfer of the State claim of jurisdiction to 
the Federal Government, and the claim of the Go\'- 
ernment to the soil, to the State. Governor St. Clair 
established the county of Truml)ull, and issued a 
a proclamation for elections, to be held under the 
Territorial system ; wdiich ^vas dated Sej^t. 2 2d, and 
directed to David Abboit, Sheriff, commanding him, 
'' That on the second Tuesday of October, he cause 
an election to be held for the purpose of electing one 
person to i'ei)resent the county in the Territoi'ial Leg- 
islature." All elections by the existing laws, were 
to be held at the respective county seats of the coun- 
ties in the Territory. Of course this election was 
held at Warren, the seat of justice for Trumbull 
county. The manner of conducting the election ^vas 
after the English mode. That is, the sheriff of the 
county assembled the electors by proclamation, he 
presided at the election, and received the votes of the , 



CLEVELAND TOWNSHIP. 359 

electors orally, or viva voce. It will readily be con- 
ceded, that in a county, embracing as Trumbull then 
did, a large Territory, only a portion of the elect- 
ors ^vould attend. The number convened at that 
election wuBforfff-tfco. Out of this number General 
Edward Paine received 38 votes, and was the mem- 
ber elect, (leneral Paine took his seat in the Terri- 
torial Legislature in 1801. 

Immediately after the organization of Trumbull 
county, at the first Court of Quarter Sessions in Au- 
gust, the county was organized into eight townships. 
The townships were named Youngstown, Warren, 
Hudson, Vernon, Richfield, Middlefield, Painesville 
and Cleveland. 

Cleveland embraced the townships of Chester, 
Russell and Bainbridge, now in Geauga county ; all 
of the present county of Cuyahoga east of the river, 
and all of the Indian country fi'oni the Cuyahoga to 
the west line of the Reserve. When the townships 
west of the I'iver were organized, after the county of 
Cuyahoga was erected, the channel of the river form- 
ed the western boundary of Cleveland. The City of 
Ohio and the City of Cleveland, were organized in 
March, 1836, without changing this boundary ; but 
the dividing line between the cities followed the 
new or artificial channel, made in 1827 by the con- 
struction of a harbor. 

A portion of Cleveland townshij^, embracing 
about seven acres at the mouth of the river, remain- 



360 THE FIRST ELECTION. 

ed ill Ohio City until the to\vnshi]> organization 
was given u]). 

On the 2d of October, 1800, the election was 
hehl at Warren, where the electors assembled, after 
the Englisli fashion, for the iirst and the last time. 
None were present from Cleveland. The appoint- 
ment of township officers was vested in the Court of 
Quarter Sessions, composed of Justices of the Peace 
of the (piorum, appointed by the Governor. Efforts 
had been made by the Territorial Legislature to 
change this mode of appointment, to an election by 
the people, but the sturdy old Governor applied his 
veto to all such innovations. In 1802, he so far re- 
laxed as to allow of election districts, or precincts, 
of less size than a county. 

In Cleveland township, Kingsbury was the first 
Justice of the Quorum, A:\ios Spaffokd a Justice 
not of Quorum. Stephen Gilbert and Lorenzo 
Carter were the first constables. 

" Early in the spring, David Hudson })assed here, 
in company with Tiiaddeus Lacy and David Kel- 
logg and their families, to settle in Hudson, Summit 
county, Ohio. Capt. Allan Gaylokd, of Newburg, 
was of this party. (1866, Capt. Gaylord is still 
living). A school house was built this season, near 
Kingsbury's, on the ridge road, and Miss Sarah 
DoAN, daughter of Nathaniel Do an, was the teach- 
er. David Clark and Major Amos Spafford, Avith 
their families, arrived from Vermont, and became 



1 

I 



LOl'tENZO CAliTEU. * 361 

settlers in Cleveland. Major Spaffukd occupied the 
Mel'^vin lot, south of Superior and east of Vineyard 
streets, near the corner, Mr, Clark built on Water 
street, west side, near the Mansion House, [The 
Mansion House of 1842 stood nearly opposite Vin- 
cent's furniture store]. John Walworth and Ed- 
ward Paine settled at Painesville, Benj. Tappen at 
llavenna, and Ephralm Quinby at Warren, during 
this year." — (Barr,) 

LETTER OF J. A. ACKLEY. 

Parma, July 2yth, 1858, 
Hon. John Barr, 

Dear Sir : — Lorenzo Carter, was a half brother 
of mine, but he, being the eldest of six children by 
the first, and myself the youngest of three children 
by the second husband; and our mother havino" 
lived a widow six years, brings us quite a distance 
apart. He was a man, and gone from home before I 
was l)orn. Consequently I can say little of him 
from my own knowledge, but must rely on what I 
have heard from my mother, brothers and sisters. 
Lorenzo Carter was born in the year 17G6, at 
Warren, Litchfield county, Connecticut, and conse- 
(|uently was about ten years of age, at the com- 
mencement of the Revolutionary war, at which time, 
he had the misfortune to lose his father. He was 
then left to the care of a widowed mother, in mode- 
21 



362 HIS .TOURNEY WEST. 

rate circumstances, with a family of six cliildren, all 
young; to pass tlirougli that turl)ulent period. 
Lorenzo was a strong, athletic, self-willed boy, and 
it could not be expected that a mother would guide 
and direct him like a father. But our mother was 
a thorough going woman, and managed to get along 
reasonably well, until the close of the war, when 
she married again, and soon after moved to Castle- 
ton, Rutland county, Vermont ; then almost a wil- 
derness. 

Lorenzo was about eighteen years of age, a veiy 
natural age to become fond of a dog or gun, hunting 
and fishing. The country l:)eing new, and game 
plenty, he soon l)ecame (piite a Nimrod. Arrived to 
manhood, he bought a lot of new land, took to him- 
self a better half, and settled on his land. But 
farming, or at least clearing a new farm, was not 
exactly to his mind. He soon became restless and 
wished for a change. About this time the Ohio 
fever began to rage, and Carter, in company with 
a man by the name of Higby, started for the West- 
ern wilds. Their course was through western Penn- 
sylvania, to Pittsburg, down the Ohio river as far 
as the Muskingum river. They then turned north, 
and struck the Lake at Cleveland, from thence by 
the nearest route home. Carter arranged his affairs 
as soon as possible, and the next year, in June, 
started with his family and effects for the west, and 
arrived at Cleveland in the summer of 1797. 



COL. JAMES IIILLMAN. .'i()H 

]\[;iiiy stories are told of Major Oauteu, some aie 

true, and many that are not true. He was the man 

for a pioneer, with strength of body and mind, l)ut 

not cultivated. His maxim was not to give an insult, 

nor receive one, without resenting it, and the insulter 

generally paid dear for his temerity. With all his 

faults, his heart was in the right place, and he was 

as ready to avenge a wrong done to the weak, as 

one done to himself. 

Kespectfully, Yours, 

John A. Ackley. 

LETTER OF COL. JAMES HILLMAN. 

YouNGSTOWN, Ohio, Nov. 23, l8-4o. 
Judge Bakk, Cleveland: 

Dear Sh' — Yours of the 13tli came duly to hand, 
making entpiiries of the early times and settlement 
of Cleveland. 

In the spring of 1786, Messrs. Duncan tfe Wilson 
entered into a contract with Messrs. Caldwell t^ 
Elliott, of Detroit, to deliver a (quantity of flour 
and bacon at the mouth of the Cuyahoga river, to a 
man by the name of Ja:mes Hawder, an Englishman, 
who had a tent at the month of the river, for the 
purpose of receiving it. In May, 1786, I engaged 
^vith Duncan tfe Wilson, at Pittsburgh, as a pack- 
horseman, and started immediately. We took the 
Indian trail for Sandusky, until we arrived at the 
"Standing Stone," on the Cuyahoga, a little below 



3(54 THE IIAKBOK IN 1786. 

the month of Breakneck creek, where the village of 
Franklin is now. There we left the Sandnsky trail 
and took one direct to the month of Tinker's creek, 
where was a little town bnilt hj Heckewelder and 
Zeisberger, with a nnmber of Moravian Indians. 
They were Moravian preachers. Here ^Ne crossed 
the Cnyahoga, and "\\'ent down on the west side to 
the month. In going down we passed a small log 
trading house, where one Meglnnes traded with the 
Indians. He had left the honse in the spring before 
we were there. I understood he had some difficulty 
with the Indians and left, bnt Avhether any were 
killed I do not recollect. 

We made six trips that summer. On the second 
trip, one Hugh Blair, a pack-horseman, in crossing 
Breakneck creek, fell backwards from his horse and 
broke his neck. His horse got his foot fast in some 
beech roots. We called it "Breakneck creek," a 
name I believe it has always retained. 

The month of the Cnyahoga was then about the 
same as when I last saw it, in 1813. In 1786 there 
was a pond of water west of the month, which we 
called " Sun Fish Pond," where we caught sun fish. 
We carried axes to cut our ^vood, and I remember, 
we at one time undertook to open the mouth of the 
river, which was choked up with sand. We made 
wooden shovels and began to dig away the sand 
until the water ran through, which took away the 
sand so fast that our party was divided, a portion 



FiUST SAVr BOILING. 36o 

beino^ left on the east side where Cleveland now is. 
Caldwell <fe Elliott had a small sail boat to carry 
the flour and bacon to Detroit. We used to cross 
the river by means of the " Mackinaw," that being 
the name of the sail boat. By opening the mouth 
of the river, she could sail up to where there was 
a spring, near where Main street comes to the river. 
We made collars of our blankets for some of the 
horses, and took our tent ropes, made of raw elk 
skin, for tugs, drew small logs and built a hut at 
the spring, which I believe was the iirst house built 
on the Cleveland side. [No mention of this is made 
by the surveyors.] 

On the west side the bottom was in woodland, 
except Sun Fish Pond, which had the appearance of 
an old outlet to the lake. At that time there were 
no traders about the mouth of the river, only Haw- 
den's (or Hawder's) tent, who was there to receive 
the flour and bacon. As fast as we delivered it, it 
was forwarded by the Mackinaw to Detroit. There 
was no trading at Grindstone brook, where Meginnes 
formerly traded. 

In the year 1785, Duncan <fc Wilson sent some 
kettles and some Indian goods to the Salt Sj^rings, 
on the Mahoning river, in Trumbull county, with a 
view of making salt. Government ascertained that 
fact, and in the same year, there being troops at 
Fort Mcintosh, at the mouth of Big Beaver, sent a 
Lieutenant and some soldiers, with an order to 



S()Q MURDER OF KRIBS. 

Duncan tt Wilson to (|uit tlu^ enterprise, wliicli 
tliey (lid, as the Indian title had not heen extin- 
guished. 

Duncan & Wilson left a man at the Salt Springs 
l)y the name of John Kribs, to take care of their 
property. In the summer of 1786, wlien we were 
on our way to Cleveland, near where the Mahoning 
crosses the State line, an Indian came to us and said 
that Kribs (or Krips,) had l)een murdered by an 
Indian named Ne]\iaiiaiie, which means "Great 
Wolf" We left our horses and loading near the 
State line, and went that night to the Salt Spring, 
al)out eighteen miles. We found him very much 
eaten by wolves. We went back to our horses, and 
when we came on we then buried Kribs. 

I am now eighty-five years old. As to the mean- 
ing of Indian names for rivers and water courses, I 
am not able to give any information that ^v(^uhl l)e 
useful to yoiL 

Resp'y, your very ol^'t serv't, 

James IIh.lman. 

BOUNDARIES OF CUYAHOGA COUNTY. 

Thjit^part of Cuyahoga county which lies east of 
Cuyalioga river, had its first organization as a part 
of Washington county, erected Jul}^ 27, 1788, with 
the county seat at Marietta. Lake Erie was the 
northern l)oundary of Wasliington county, and tlie 
Cuyahoga river, the ohl ])ortage path, and the Tus- 



BOUNDAEIES OF THE COtTNTY. 367 

carawas river, its western l)oiiiulary, on the Reserve. 
The city of Cleveland was thus situated at the ex- 
treme north-west corner, of the first county erected 
in Oliio, That part of Cuyahoga county which lies 
west of the river was embraced in the county of 
Wayne, with the county seat at Detroit, erected 
August 15, 1796. On the 20th of July, 1707, that 
part of the Western Reserve, which lies east of the 
Cuyahoga river, and the old portage path, became 
a part of the county of Jefferson ; with the county 
seat at Steubenville. The county of Trumbull was 
erected July 10, 1800, and embraced all the West- 
ern Reserve, including the Fire lands, and the Islands 
opposite. All these organizations were effected by 
proclamation, prior to the existence of the territorial 
legislature. By an act of the State legislature, 
dated December 21st, 1805, which took effect, March, 
1806, the county of (leauga was set off from the 
county of Trum1)ull, including a large part of the 
present county of Cuyahoga; and extending west 
as far as Range 14. Huron county was erected 
February 7, 1800, covering the Fire lands. The 
counties of Cuyahoga, Portage and Ashtabula were 
authorized February 10, 180 7. By this act the 
county of Cuyahoga ^vas declared to embrace, so 
much of the county of Geauga as lay west of the 0th 
range of townships. The organization of the county 
of Cuyahoga did not take place till January 16, 
1810. The boundaries of this county, by the Act 



368 CHANGES OF BOUNDARY, 

of 1807, were as follows. On tlie east side of Cuy- 
ahoga river, all north of Town 5, and west of Range 
9 ; on the west side of the river, all north of Town 
4, and east of Range 15 ; a space between Ranges 14 
and 20 on the west ; and the county of Huron, being 
attached to Cuyahoga county for judicial purposes. 

One of the commissioners for fixing the county seat 
presented his l^ill for services, in the following words : 
'' Columbiana County, Ohio, ] 
October, 1809. J 

Deir Sir : — I have called on Mr. Peaies for my 
Pay for fixing the Seat of Justis in the County of 
Cuyahoga and he imformt me that he did not Chit 
it. Sir, I should take it as a favour of you would 
send it with Mister Peaies at your Nixt Cort and In 
80 doing will oblige Your humble Sarvent R. B^^''''"r. 

Abraham Tappin Esq. 

A Leven Days Two Dollars per da}^. Twenty two 
Dollars." 

On the 25th of January, 1811, the line between 
Huron and Cuyahoga counties was changed on the 
west. Beginning at the south-west corner of Strongs- 
ville, No. 5, in the 14th Range, it was carried west- 
Avard, to the south-west corner of Eaton, No. 5, in 
the 16th Range; thence north to the north-west 
corner of Eaton township ; thence west to the middle 
of Black river, and northerly, following its channel, 
to the lake. When the county of Medina was 
erected, February 18th, 1812, another alteration 



took 23lace in the western boundary of Cuyalioga 
county. From the north-west corner of Eaton, the 
line extended north to the north-west corner of 
Ridgeville, No. 6, Kange 16; thence west to Black 
river, and with the river to the lake. Until the 1st 
of Aj^ril, 1815, when Huron county was organized, 
legal proceedings in that county, were j^rosecuted 
in Cuyahoga. Lorain county, which was organized 
on the 1st of A23ril, 1824, took from the south-west 
part of Cuyahoga, Town 5, of Range 15, (Colum. 
bia,) and the west half of Olmsted, in that Range. 
By the Act of January 29th, 1827, this half town- 
ship was restored to Cuyahoga county. 

Changes in the outline of the county, were not 
yet at an end. When Lake county was organized, 
March 20th, 1840, the township of Willoughby, on 
the north-east, was dissevered from Cuyahoga, 

Afterwards, January 29th, 1841, a strip ninety 
rods wide, in the north-east part of Orange township, 
extending from the north-east corner, down the east 
line, to the east and west center road, was annexed 
to Geauga county. 

In compensation for this, lots 17, 18 and 19, in 
the south-Avest corner of Russell, Geauga county, 
were transferred to Cuyahoga, in order to accommo- 
date the thrivino- villao;e of Cha2:rin Falls. 

On the 11th of January, 1843, the tract taken 
from Orange was restored. Since then the county 
lines have remained without change. 



CLEVELAND UNDER THE HILL, 



EARLY IN THE SPRING OF THE YEAR 1800, FROM A RUDE 

SKETCH MADE AT THE TIME BY ALLEN 

G'AYLORIi, Oh' NEWBUR(i. 



A. Siu'vej'ors' cabin, or " 1'ease's HoteL" B. Log- store-house of 
the surveyors', ('. Lorenzo Carter's first cabin. J). Mouth of the 
river. E. Old river l)eil and natural mound beyond it. 



Altlioiigli tins is only a rough outline taken ])y 
one of the pioneers, who was wholly unskilled in 
the use of the pencil, it must he regarded as a 
reasonably correct picture of the lower town at tliat 
time. The trail or road up the hill, is no doul)t 
more conspicuous and street-like than it should be, 
although it was then used by teams. During the 
same year, Daa'^id Bryant became a settler, and 
commenced building a small distillery at the mouth 
of the ravine, l^etween the cabins, as his son more 
fully relates in the following letter : 



3^2 GILMAN BRYANT. 

LETTER OF GILMAN BRYANT. 

Mount Vernon, Ohio, June 1st, 1857. 

Alexander C. Elliott, Esq. — Si/' : According to 
your request, I will inform you about tlie first settle- 
ment of Cleveland, Ohio, according to my best 
recollection. 

My father, David Bryant, and myself, landed at 
Cleveland in June, 1797. There was but one family 
there at that time, viz : Lorenzo Carter, who lived 
in a log cabin, under the high sand bank, near the 
Cuyahoga river, and about thirty rods below the 
bend of the river, at the west end of Superior street. 
I went up the hill to view the town. I found one 
log cabin erected by the surveyors, on the south side 
of Superior street, near the place where the old 
Mansion house formerly stood. There was no clear- 
ed land, only where the logs were cut to erect the 
cabin, and for fire-wood. I saw the stakes at the 
corners of the lots, among the logs and large oak and 
chestnut trees. We were on our way to a grind- 
stone quarry, near Vermillion river. We made two 
trips that summer, and stopped at Mr. Carter's- 
each time. In the Ml of 1797, I found Mr. 
RoDOLPiius Edwards in a cabin under the hill, at 
the west end of Superior street. We made two 
tri23S in the summer of 1798. I found Major Spaf- 
FORD in the old surveyor's cabin. The same fall 
Mr. David Clark erected a cabin on the other side 



FIRST DISTILLERY. 373 

of the street, and al^oiit five rods north-west of 
Spafford's. We made two trips in the summer of 
1799, and in the fall, father and myself returned to 
Cleveland, to make a pair of mill stones for Mr. 
Williams, about five miles east of Cleveland, near 
the trail to Hudson. We made the mill stones on 
tlie right hand side of the stream as you go up, 
fifteen or twenty feet from the stream, and about 
half a mile from the mill, which was under a high 
bank, and near a fall in said stream of forty or fifty 
feet. If any person will examine, they will find the 
remains and pieces of the rock, the said stones were 
made of The water was conveyed to the mill in a 
duffout trou2:h, to an under-shot wheel about twelve 
feet over, with one set of arms, and buckets fifteen 
inches long, to run inside of the trough, which went 
down the l)ank at an angle of forty -five degrees, 
perhaps. The dam ^vas about four rods above the 
fall ; the mill stones were three and a half feet in 
diameter, of gray rock. On my way from the town 
to Mr. Williams' mill, I found the cabin of Mr. R. 
Edwards, who had left the town, about three miles 
out; the next cabin was Judge Kingsbury's, and 
the next old Mr. Gunn, thence half a mile to Mr. 
Williams' mill. 

On my return to Cleveland in the fall of 1800, 
my father and myself came there to stay. He took 
a still from Virginia, and built a still-house under 
the sand bank, about twenty rods above L. Carter's 



374 A PIONEER DANCE. 

and fifteen feet from the river. The house was made 
of hewed logs, twenty by twenty-six, one and a half 
stories high. We took the water in a trough, out of 
some small springs which came out of the bank, 
into the second story of the house, and made the 
whisky out of wheat. 

My father purchased ten acres of land about one- 
foiu-th of a mile from the town plat, on the bank of 
the river, east of the town. In the winter of 18(H) 
and spring of 1801, I helped my father to clear five 
acres on said lot, ^vhich was planted with corn in 
the spring. Said ten acres were sold l)y my father 
in the spring of 1802, at the rate of two dollars and 
fifty cents per acre. Mr. Samuel Huntington came 
to Cleveland in the spring of 1801, and built a 
hewed log house near the bank of the Cuyahoga 
I'iver, about fifteen rods south-east of the old survey- 
ors' calkin, occupied by Mr. Spafford. 

1 attended the 4th of July ball, mentioned in the 
History of Ohio. I waited on Miss Doan, who had 
just arrived at the Corners, four miles east of town. 
I was then about seventeen years of age, and Miss 
Doan about fourteen. I was dressed in the then 
style — a gingham suit — my hair ([Ututd with one 
and a half yards of black ribbon, about as long and 
as thick as a corncob, with a little tuft at the lower 
end ; and for the want of pomatum, I had a piece of 
candle rubbed on my hair, and then as much flour 
sprinkled on, as could stay without falling oft'. I 



A DOG FEAST. 375 

had a good wool hat, and a pair of brogans that 
would help to play " Fishers Hornpipe," or " High 
Bettie Martin," when I danced. When I went for 
Miss DoAN I took an old horse ; when she was ready 
I rode up to a stump near the cabin, she mounted 
the stuni]! and spread her under petticoat oh " Old 
Tib" behind me, secured her calico dress to keep it 
clean, and then mounted on behind me. I had a 
fine time ! 

The Indians scattered along the river, froju live to 
eight miles apart, as far as the tails ; they hauled 
their canoes above high water mark and covered 
them with l)ark, and went from three to five miles 
back int(^ the woods. In the sj^ring, after sugar 
making, they all j^acked their skins, sugar, bear's 
oil, honey and jerked venison, to their crafts. They 
frequently had to make more canoes, either of wood 
or l)ark, as the increase of their furs, etc., rerpiired. 
They would descend the liver in April, from sixty to 
eighty families, and encamp on the Avest side of 
the river tor eight or ten da}'s, take a drunken 
scrape and have a feast. I was invited to partake 
of a irJiite dog. They singed part of the hair oif 
and chopped him up, and madet a large kettle of 
soup. They erected a scaftbld, and oftered a large 
wooden bowlfull, placed on the scaffold, to "Mani- 
tou," and then they presented me with one fore-paw 
well boiled, and jdenty of sou}), the hair still be- 
tween the toes. I excused; they said, ''a good 



376 SETTLERS MUCH DISCOUKAGED, 

soldier could eat sucli." They said "(lod Avas a 
'good man and would ii<jt hurt anybody." They, in 
oftering the sacrifice to Manitou, prayed to him for 
their safety over the lake, and that they might have 
a good cro]) of corn, etc. 

Yours, ttc, 

UiLMAX Bkva.nt. 



Cleaveland, Ouio, I7tli July, 1800. 

Gen. M. Cleaveland, Canterbury, Conn., 

to 1)C left at Norwich, Post Office. 

Deal' Sir : — On my arrival at this place, I found 
Major Sr AFFORD, Mr. Lorenzo Carter and Mr. 
David Clark, who are the only inhabitants residing 
in the city, have been anxiously waiting with expec- 
tations of purchasing a number of lots, but when I 
produced my instructions, they were greatly disap- 
pointed, both as to price and terms. They as- 
sured me, that they had encouragement last year, 
from Col. Tiio:mas Sheldon ; that they would have 
lands at ten dollars per acre, and from Major Austin 
at twelve dollars iit most ; which they think would l)e 
a generous price, for such a quantity as they wish to 
purchase. You will please excuse me, for giving my 
opinion, but it really seems to me good policy to 
sell the city lots, at a less price than twenty-five dol- 
lars, (two acres) or I shall never expect to see it 
settled. 



SETTLERS DISSATISFIED. 377 

Mr. C^AKTEii was tin eiirly adveiituror, has l)eeii of 
essential advantage to the inhabitants here, in help- 
ing them to provisions in times of danger and 
scarcity, has never experienced any gratuity from 
the company, })ut complains of being hardly dealt 
by, in sundiy instances. He has money to 
[)ay for about thirty acres, Avhich he expected to 
liave taken, if the price had met his expectation ; 
l)ut he now declares that he will leave the purchase, 
and never own an acre in New Connecticut. Major 
Spafford has^ stated his wishes to the company, in 
his letter of January last, and I am not authorized 
to add any thing. He says he has no idea of giving 
the present price, for sixteen or eighteen lots. He 
contemplated building a house, and making large 
improvements this season, which he thinks would 
indemnify the company fully, in case he should fail 
to fulfill his contract; and he is determined to 
remove to some other part of the purchase immedi- 
ately, unless he can obtain better terms than I am 
authorized to give. Mr. Clark is to be included in 
the same contract, with Major Sp afford, but his 
circumstances will not admit of his making any 
advances. I have requested the settlers not to leave 
the place, until I can obtain further information 
from the Board, and request you to consult General 
Champion, to whom I have written, and favor me 
with despatches by first mail. «• * * 

Mr. Edwards has gone to see the Governor. Crops 

91, 



378 SCARCITY OF MONEY. \ 

extraordinary good, and settlers healthy and in good 
spirits. They are increasing as fast as can be 
expected, but the universal scarcity of cash, in this 
back part of the country, renders it extremely diffi- 
cult to sell for money, and the vast quantity of land 
in market Avill prevent a speedy sale of our lands. 
The people have been encouraged that the Company 
\vould have a store erected, and receive provisions 
in payment for lands, for money is not to be had. 
Mr. TiLLiTSON, from Lyme, wants tvro, one hundred 
acre lots, and would pay for one in hand if horses, 
cattle or provisions would answer, or would take 
them on credit, if he could have sufficient time to 
turn his property, but has no cash to advance. 

I have given a sketch of these circumstances, in 
order that you may understand my embarrassments, 
and expect you will give me particular directions 
how to proceed, and also, whether I shall make new 
contracts with settlers, whose old ones are forfeited. 
They seem unwilling to rely on the generosity of 
the company, and want new writings, * * 

I have the pleasure of your brother's company at 
this time. He held his first talk with the Smooth 
Nation, at Mr. Carter's this morning. Appearances 
are very promising. I flatter myself he will do no 
discredit to his elder brother, in his negotiations 
with the aborigines. 

I am, dear sir, with much esteem, yours, <fec., 

TuRHAIfD KiRTLAND, 



SAMUEL ni!N'riN(JT()N. .^70 

Samuel IIuntincmon, Es([., of Norwich, Couu., 
visited Ohio, reaching Yoiingstown in July. He 
made a liorseback tour through the settlements on 
tlie Keserve, keeping daily memoranda, which are 
preserved by his descendants, at Painesville. 

In this diary he says: '''■ TldO'Hclaij^ Octoher 7fl/^ 
1800. — Left David Aj^bott's mill, (Willoughhy,) 
and came to Cleveland. Stayed at Carter's at 
night. Day pleasant and cool. Friday^ 8(1 — Ex- 
plored the city and town ; land high and flat, 
covered with white oak. On the west side of the 
river is a long, deep stagnant pond of water, which 
produces fever and ague, among those who settle 
near the river. There are only three families near 
the point, and they have the fever. Saturday, 4M. — 
Sailed out of the Cuyahoga, along the coast, to ex- 
j)lore the land west of the river. Channel at the 
mouth about five feet deep. On the west side is a 
prairie, where one hundred tons of hay might be 
cut each year. A little way back is a ridge, from 
which the land descends to the lake, affording a 
prospect indescribably beautiful. In the afternoon 
went to Williams' grist and saw mill, (Newburg,) 
wdiich are nearly completed. Sunday 5th. — Stayed 
at Willta:vis'. Monday, 6th. — Went through Towns 
7, and 5, of liange 11, to Hudson." 

Mr. Huntington continued his journeyings during 
the season, embracing the settlements on the Ohio 
as low as Marietta, Here he made the acquaintance 



380 TIMOTHY DOA"^r. 

of Governor St. Clair, the Territorial Judges, and 
principal men of Ohio. He returned to Norwich, 
Conn., in the fall, having concluded to become a 
citizen of New Connecticut. 

The ridge, of which so many of the tirst comers 
speak, is a natural terrace or bluff, the edge of the 
upland country, fronting tow\ards and parallel with 
the lake, from which side it has the appearance of 
an elevated range. It extends easterly from New- 
burg to and beyond Painesville, the crest rising from 
one hundred and sixty to two hundred feet above 
lake level, broken only by steep and deep gullies 
whei'e the streams pass through it. 

1801. 

" Teviothy Doan arrived at Cleveland in the 
spring, and in the fall removed to Euclid. He died 
in the fall of 1828, at the age of seventy. Samuel 
Hamilton and family settled at Newburg. About 
live years after he was drowned in Buffalo creek, 
on his return from a visit to the east. At Cleveland 
the people were unusually healthy. This year 
became notorious, on account of a Fourth of July 
celebration and ball. It was held in one end of 
Major Carter's double log house, on the hill near 
the corner of Union and Suj^erior lanes. Joiusr 
Wood, Ben Wood and R. II. Blinn were managers. 
Major Samuel Jones was chief musician and master 



THE FIRST STORE. 381 

of ceremonies. About a dozen ladies and twenty 
gentlemen constituted the company. Notwithstand- 
ing the floors were of rough puncheons, and their 
best beverage was made of maple sugar, hot water 
and -whisky, probably no celebration of American 
independence in this city was ever more joyous than 
this. 

Elisha Norton opened a store in Carter's house, 
under the hill, and David Bryant built a log distil- 
lery, on the ground afterwards occupied by Mat- 
thew Williamson as a tannery. [The distillery 
stood where M. B. Scott's warehouse is now.] 

Previous to this year, the people had no laws 
but those of God and their own consciences, yet 
they lived in great harmony. A bond of union 
existed in their common pleasures, as well as in their 
misfortunes. During the days of clul) law, very few 
disputes occurred, such was the universal good feel- 
ing that prevailed. Not a single case of Lynch law 
occurred from 179G to the organization of the State 
government, and only one of "club law." This 
happened between Major Carter and the Indians, 
and was caused by alcohol. 

Both old Leatherstocking and the red men, were 
very good and generous friends in the absence of 
this demon." (Judge Barr.) 

The Rev. Joseph Badger, a soldier of the Revo- 
lution, came to the Reserve in 180U, as a missionary 
from the Connecticut Missionary Society. He was 



38:^ TliE FIRST LAWYEll. 

at Cleveland on the IStli of August, 1801, when he 
lodged at Lorenzo Carter's. On the 6th of Sep- 
tem])er, he says: "We swam our horses across the 
Cuyahoga by means of a canoe, and took an Indian 
path up the lake ; came to Rocky river, the banks of 
which were very high, on the west side almost j^c"!'- 
pendicular. While cutting the brush to open a way 
for our horses, we were saluted by the song of a 
large yellow rattlesnake, which we removed out of 
our way." 

Spafford's re-survey of the streets and lanes of 
city took place in November. He planted fifty-four 
posts of oak, about one foot square, at the principal 
corners, for which he charged fifty cents each, and 
fifty cents, for grubbing out a tree at the north-east 
corner of the Square. 

Samuel HuNTiNOTOisr, who was an attorney, 
removed with his family to Youngstown early 
in the summer of 1801. He soon determined to 
establish himself at Cleveland, and contracted with 
Amos Spafford to superintend the erection of 
a well built block house, of considerable pretensions 
near the bluff south of Superior street, in rear of 
the site of the American House. Huntington was 
then about thirty-five years of age. He was the 
protege and adopted heir of his uncle and name-sake, 
Governor Samuel Huntington, of Connecticut. His 
education was very complete for those times. It 
would appear from his correspondence with French- 



Huntington's advancement. 383 

men, his knowledge of the French language, and the 
polish of his manners, that he had spent some time 
in France. His family consisted of his wife, Miss 
Marcmret Cobb, a companion and governess; and 
two sons, Julius C. and Colbert, w^ho still survive. 
Huntington belonged to the more moderate repub- 
licans, and does not appear to have lost the confidence 
of the Federalists. Governor St. Clair soon ap- 
pointed him Lieutenant Colonel of the Trumbull 
county regiment, and in January, 1802, one of the 
Justices of the Quorinn. The only time when the 
(rovernor is known to have visited the Reserve, was 
at the trial of McMaiion, at Youngstown, charged 
with the murder of an Indian named Spotted 
George, at the Salt Springs. Mr. Huntington acted 
as counsel in the case, but on which side, I am not 
informed. 

The extreme Jeffersoniau Republicans, like John 
S. Edwards and Judge Tod, looked favorably upon 
Huntington, who was ambitious and popular ; and 
who entered at once upon the career of a j)ublic 
man. He took by common consent, priority on the 
bench of Quarter Sessions. In November, 1802, he 
was elected a delegate to the convention to form a 
State cQustitution, which appears to have been well 
received by St. Clair. After its adoption, he was 
elected Senator from Trumbull county, and on the 
meeting of the first Legislature at Chillicothe, was 
made Speaker. On the 2d of April, 1808, he was 



384 ITAIR BLANKETfc4. 

appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court, liis com- 
mission, whicli was signed by Governor Tiffin, 
being the first issued under the authority of the 
State of Ohio. A character so prominent and suc- 
cessful, no doubt, had a favorable influence upon the 
place of his residence, which, in "1801, was nearly 
depopulated. In person he was small, but exceed- 
ingly active. His manners were affable, though 
somewhat after the French style, in business his 
habits were correct and efficient. 

1802. 

Cakter built a frame house on the hill west of 
Water street and north of Superior Lane, which was 
burned almost as soon as finished. Amos Spafford 
put up the second frame house, near the west end of 
Superior street, on the south side. In the latter 
part of July Mr. Badger again took Cleveland in 
his circuit. He does not give a very favorable report 
of the morals of the place. 

" Mr. Burke's family in Euclid, had been in this 
lone situation over three years. The woman had 
l)een obliged to spin and weave cattle's hair, to make 
covering for her children's bed. From thence I went 
to Cleveland, visited the only two families, and went 
on to Newburg, where I preached on the Sabbath. 
There were five families here, but no aj)parent piety. 
They seemed to glory in their infidelity. On the way 



TltE FIRST ELECTION. 386 

from Cleveland here, I fell in company with a man 
from Hudson, who wanted to know if I was going 
to form a chnrch there, I replied, if I found suitable 
characters I should. ' Well,' said he, ' if you admit 
old Deacon Tiiompsoin^, (and some others,) it shall 
not stand, I will T)reak it down and have an Episco- 
pal church.' "" 

In 1802 the Territorial Legislature had so far 
prevailed over the old system, that citizens of the 
townships were allowed to elect trustees, appraisers, 
supervisors of highways, fence viewers, overseers 
of the poor, and constables, viva voce. They had 
not yet attained to the election of justices of the 
j)eace and militia officers. At the February term of 
the Quarter Sessions, it was ordered that the house 
of James KnsrasBURY be the j)lace for holding the 
first town meeting in Cleveland. Here is the result 
of the first election held in " Cleaveland, Trumbull 
county, Ohio." 

"Agreeably to order of the Court of General 
Quarter Sessions, the inhabitants of the town of 
Cleaveland met at the house of James Kingsbury, 
Esq., the 5th day of April, A. D. 1802, for a town 
meeting, and chose 

Chairman^ Toion CIerl\ 

KoDOLPHus Edwards. Nathaniel Doan. 

Trustees, 

Amos Spafford, Esq., Timothy Doan, Wm. W. Wif/ijams. 

Appraisers of lionises, 

Samuel Hamilton, Elijah (tun. 



386 AN ATTACK HY WOLVI^S. 

Listci\ 

Ebenezer Ayrs. 

Supervisors of Highways, 

Sam'l Huntington, Esq., Nath'l Doax, Sam^l Hamii.ton. 

Overseers of the Poor^ 

William W. Williams, Samuel Huntington, Esq. 

Fence Viewers, 

Lorenzo Carter, Nathan Chapman. 

Co)isfahJes^ 

EZEKIEL HaWLEY, RiClIARD CrAW. 

A true copy of tlie proceedings of tlie iiiliabitaiits 

of Cleaveland at tlieir town meeting, examined per 

me, 

Nathaniel Doan, Toirn Clerl-.^' 

According to a widely circnlated tradition, ^Ir, 
Hfntinoton, about this time, came near being de- 
voured by wolves, not far from the Euclid street 
station. He was coming in from Painesville, on 
horseback, alone, and after dark, iloimdering through 
a swamp, which occupied what is now the corner of 
Willson avenue and Euclid street. A gang of hun- 
crry wolves had taken up their nights lodging in 
this swamp, who made a combined attack upon the 
judge and his horse. His only defensive weapon 
was an umbrella, with which he charged them right 
and left. The horse, in a terrible fright, performed 
his part nobly, by a rapid movement along the trail 
towards town, outstripping the ferocious animals, 
and brought up, with his rider, at the door of the 
double log house south of Superior street. 



LANDS SELL SLOWLY 



38^ 



At the August term of tlie Quarter Sessions, 
Lorenzo Carter and Amos Spafford were each 
licensed to keep a tavern at Cleveland on paying 
four dollars. George Tod, (afterwards Judge Tod) 
of Youngsto\vn, was appointed appraiser of taxable 
])ro])ert}'. 

The sale of the six reserved townships, and of the 
city lots in Cleveland, did not come up to the ex- 
pectations of the Company. City lots had receded 
from fifty dollars cash in hand, to twenty-five dollars 
on time. The treasury of the association, instead of 
heing filled l)y the proceeds of sales, had to be re- 
])lenished by the disagreeal)le process of assessments. 
By individual exertion, the jirivate owners under 
the previous drafts, had disposed of limited amounts 
of lands, on terms which did not create very brilliant 
expectations of the speculation. In truth, the most 
fortunate of the adventurers realized a very meagre 
profit, and more of them were losers than gainers. 

Those who were able to make their payments and 
keep the property for their children, made a fair and 
safe investment. It was not until the next genera- 
tion came to maturity, that lands on the Reserve 
began to command good prices. Taxes, trou1)le and 
interest, had. l)een long accumulating. Such of the 
proprietors as became settlers, secured an excellent 
home at a cheap rate, and left as a legacy to their 
heirs, a cheerful future. 

At this time, however, it was considered better 



388 THE THIRD BRAFP. 

for the property to be wholly iu private hands, and 
on the 2Sth of December, 1802, another draft was 
made of the six townships, which had been divided 
into ninety parcels. This included all of the lands 
east of the Cuyahoga, except a few city lots in 
Cleveland. Some had been sold, but most of them 
were assorted to the stockholders as part of the 
draft. 

The names of the orifijinal owners are here e:iven. 

ORIGINAL OWNERS OF LOTS IN CLEVELAND 
BY DRAFT, OR FIRST PURCHASE. 

NUMBER OF CITV LOTS, 2-20. 

Samuel Huntingtox, 1 to 6, 01, 75, 76, 78, 80 to 81, 190 to 

194, 206, 210 

Caleb Atwater, 7 to 24, 31 to 36 ^ 

Lorenzo Carter, 25 to 30, 54, 197 to 205 

Epiiraim Root, 37 to 47 

Elijah Boardman and others, 48 

EzEKTEL Hawley, 49 to 51 

David Clark, 52 and 53 

Joseph Howland, 55 to 57,62 

Charles Duttox, 58 

James Kingsbury, 59 and 60 

Samuel W. Phelps, 63 

Joseph Perkins and others, 64 to 72 

Austin & Huxtingtox, 73 and 74 

Wyles and others, 77 

JuDSON Canfield and others, 79 

Samuel P. Lord, Jr., 85 to 87, 97 to 99, 211 and 212 

William Shaw, 88 to 96, 100 to 133 

Samuel Parkman, 134 to 138 



FALL ELECTION, I8O0. 389 

John Bolls and others, . -139 to 14-1: 

AsiiER Miller, 145 to 153, 156 to 160 

Epiikaim Stow and others, 154 to ] 55 

Martin Sheldon and others, 161 and 162, 212 

Amos Spafford, 179 to 181, 187 to 1 90 

Oliver Phelps, 170 to 177, 182 to 190, 213 to 215, 217 to 220 
Richard W. Hart and others, 195 and 196 



1808. 

"A healthy year, marked by increased emigration 
and the organization of tlie state of Ohio. The 
first indictment found on the Reserve v^as a2:ainst 
Mr. Cakter, the pioneer, for an assault upon James 
Hamilton, of Newburg. A second frame house was 
erected by Major Spafford on the brow of the hill, 
between Superior and Vineyard Lanes, at the end of 
Superior street. Postmaster Daniel Worley once 
occupied the same building as a residence." — (Barr.) 

Election of 1803 — Statement of Warren Young, Esq., 
OF Warren, March 27th, 1848. 

" I am unable to find the canvass sheet of this year. 
The election was held in Cleveland, Oct. 11th, and 
there were twenty-two votes given. For the two 
representatives, David Abbott had twenty - two 
votes ; Epiiraim Quinby, nineteen ; Amos Spafford, 
one; and David Hudson, one. Teviothy Do an, 
Nathaniel Doan and James Kingsbury, Judges of 



890 ANOTHER STORE. 

election. Rodolphus Edwards and Stephen Gil- 
bert, Clerks. Sworn in by Timothy Doan, Justice 
of the Peace. 

Bryant's log distillery, of course, attracted the 
attention of such Senecas, Hurons, ChipptnA^ays, 
and Delawares, as had a weakness for iire-Avater. 
Alexander Campbell, who was doubtless a Scotch- 
man, saw that here was a good place to traffic with 
the stoic of the woods. He built a rude store a 
little further up the hill, near the spring, but more 
towards the junction of Union and Mandrake Lanes. 
St. Clair street was an improvement of much later 
times. The same spring, afterwards supplied the 
tannery of Samuel and Matthew Williamson's es- 
tablishment, on lot 202, the vats of which were 
directly across Kiver street. 

In this cluster of log shanties, the principal traffic 
of Cleveland was transacted. Here the red man 
became supremely happy over a very small quantity 
of raw whisky, for which he paid the proceeds of 
many a hunt. If anything remained of his stock of 
skins after paying for his whisky, the beads, ribbons, 
and trinkets, of Mr. Campbell's store absorbed the 
entire stock. Here the squaws bartered and coquet- 
ted with the trader, who in their eyes was the most 
important personage in the country. Here the wild 
hunter, in his dirty blanket, made the woods ring 
with his savage howls, when exhilerated with drink. 
He shone forth for a moment in his native barbarity, 
ferocious alike against friend and foe, 



THE FIRST JILTRDER. 391 

THE MURDER OF MENOMPSY. 

The first murder coramitted within the limits of 
this city, occurred at the cabins under the hill. The 
parties were Indians. There are three persons now 
living who were in Cleveland at the time, and saw 
the combatants. They are Allen Gaylord and 
Alonzo Carter, of Newburg, and Julius C. Hunt- 
ington, of Painsville. As to the precise time when 
it was committed, they do not agree, but place it in 
1802 or 1803. 

NoBSY, Menobsy, or Menompsy, was a medicine 
man, either a Chippewa or an Ottawa. Among 
Indians, a medicine man is a conjuror, priest, prophet 
and warrior, as well as a doctor. Menompsy had 
prescribed officially for the wife of Big Son, who 
was of the tribe of the Senecas, and she had died. 

Big Son was brother to Seneca, a noted Indian 
and friend to the whites, sometimes called Stigonish 
or Stigwanish, 

At the time of the murder, David Bryant had 
in operation his still for making whisky, under the 
hill. 

Alexander Campbell, was also at his trading 
house ; that must have stood in River street. 

In the dusk of the evening, Big Son and Me- 
nompsy, somewhat elevated by the fire-water of 
Bryant's still, had an altercation respecting the case 
of mal-practice, by which Big Son claimed that his 
wife had been killed, Retaliation is the Indian law 



392 SCENE UNDER THE HILL. 

of justice. He had tlireatened to kill the Indian 
doctor, but Menompsy claimed that he Avas a charmed 
man and no bullet could hurt hiuL " Me no fraid," 
said Menompsy, as they walked out of the store 
and took the trail that wound up the bluif, along 
Union lane. 

The Senecas were encamped on the east side of 
the river below Carter's, and the Chippewas and 
Ottawas on the west side, partly up the hill. 

As they went along the path, Big Son put out his 
hand as though he intended a friendly shake, after 
the manner of white men. At the same time he 
drew a knife and stabbed Meno^ipsy in the side. 
The blood spirted from his body, which Carter 
tried to stop with his hand, as the Indian fell. 
" NoBSY' broke now, yes, Nobsy broke," were his last 
words. In a few minutes he was dead. The Chi])- 
pewas took up the corpse and carried it to their camp 
on the west side. 

Major Carter knew full well what would hap])en, 
unless the friends of Meno^ipsy were appeased. 
During the night the valley of the Cuyahoga echoed 
with their savage voices, infuriated by liipior and 
revenge. 

The Chippewas and Ottawas were more numerous 
than the Senecas. In the morning the warriors of 
the first named nation, were seen with their faces 
painted black, a certain symbol of war. Governor 
Huntington resided here at that time, and Amos 



AN INDIAN FIGHT PKKVENTEI). ?}0'.) 

Spafkoki), ^vL(), with Major Caktek, constituted the 
principal men of the place. The murder of Mk- 
NO]\iPSY was comj)romised for a gallon of whisky, 
which Bryant was to make that day, being the next 
after the killing. One of the stipulations was that 
the body should be taken to Rocky river before it 
was " covered," or moui'ned for, with the help of the 
whisky. Bryant was busy and did not make the 
promised gallon of spirits. The Chippewas waited 
all day, and went over the river decidedly out of 
humor. They were followed and promised two 
gallons on the coming day, which reduced their camp 
halloo, to the tone of a mere sullen murmur. But 
Carter and his i)arty well knew, that in this sup- 
pressed anger, there was as much vengeance as in the 
bowlings of the previous night. They fulfilled their 
promise, and upon receiving two gallons, the Chip- 
pewas and Ottawas took up the corpse, according 
to agreement, went to Rocky river and held their 
pow wow there. Carter did not sleep for two 
nights, and few of the residents enjoyed their beds 
very much, until the funeral procession was out 
of sio-ht. 

Such is the substance of the statements of Captain 
(taylord, Mr. Carter, and Mr. Huntington, all of 
whom remember the event. 

Big Son was a half brother of Stigonish, Stigwa- 
Nisii or Seneca, and previous to the murder had 
been regarded as a coward. Seneca refused to 
26 



394 BIG SON BECOMES A BRAVE. 

acknowledge him on this ground, until his heroism 
had been demonstrated in this way. By the Indian 
code of honor, a successful trick against an enemy, 
takes rank with high personal bravery. 

STATEMENT OF ALONZO CARTER. 

Newburg, June 14, 1858. 

My father came here on 2d of May, 1797. He 
was from Rutland, Vermont, but stayed the winter 
previous in Canada. I was seven years old then, 
going on eight. We built a log cabin under the 
hill, five or six rods from the river, and about twenty 
rods north of St. Clair street. There was an old 
trading house on the west side of the river, which 
stood not far from the corner of Main and Center 
streets. 

It was a double log house, quite old and rotten, 
which the traders used only during the trading sea- 
son. James Kingsbury and his family came here 
two or three weeks after we did, and stayed a while 
in that house. 

In July, 1797, our hired girl was married to a Mr. 
Clement, from Canada. They were married by Mr. 
Seth Hart, who was a minister, and the agent of the 
company. 

I remember seeing the cabin where the crew of 
the British vessel wintered, after it was wrecked. 
It was about two miles down the river, on the bank 



THE FIRST siiipwrj:ck. 395 

of the lake. The vensel had two brass guns on 
board, which were buried on the shore. My father 
used to go to the wreck, and get bolts, spikes and 
other pieces of iron. Some of this iron is in the gate 
at my house now. 

In the year 1798 my father brought on some 
goods to trade Avith the Indians. I remember when 
Menompsy, the Chippewa medicine man Avas killed ; 
it was towards evenincf. Menompsy had doctored 
Big Son's wife, who said he had killed her with his 
medicine. They Avere in Campbell's store, under 
the hill, Avhich stood between the surveyors' cabin 
and store house. Bia Son threatened to kill the 
doctor in the store, but Menompsy said, "me no 
'fraid." They went out and Avalked along the road up 
Union lane. It Avas getting pretty dark. Big Son 
pretended to make friends, and put out one hand, as 
though he Avould shake hands. With the other hand 
he drew his knife and stabbed Menompsy Avho fell 
down and died. The Chippewas Avere encamped on 
the Avest side of the river, and the Senecas and 
Ottawas on the east side. Every body expected 
there Avould be an Indian light. The Avest side 
Indians painted themselves black, and threatened the 
Senecas very severely. My father did not sleep for 
two days and nights. 

My father built a ncAv frame house in 1803, near 
the junction of Superior lane and Union lane. Just 
as it Avas finished the shavings took lire, and it was 



396 THE FIRST WAREHOUSE. 

burnt. He then bnilt a block house on the same 
spot in the same year. 

I kne^v A:\ios Spafford ten years ; he was a sur- 
veyor and came here to live in 17*J9. He and my 
father set the l)ig posts at the corners of the streets 
in 1801, or 1802. I and my brother were boys with 
his boys, and in 1799 we went about the streets a 
good deal, and sawed the corner stakes. Spafford 
took up the stakes, and put down the posts which he 
cut in the woods near by. The stakes had been 
there three or four years. Superior lane was a sharp 
ridge where we could not get up or down. Trav- 
eled up and down to the river, on Union lane. In 
1800, or 1801, a vessel landed one hundred barrels 
of salt on the beach, which was carried off on horses, 
or carried up the beach. My father built his ware- 
house there in 1809 and '10. General Tupper, an 
army contractor, used it in 1812 to store provisions, 
and also Murray's warehouse. In 1813 they moved 
everything two miles up the river, to Walworth's 
Point, to keep the stores from the British. 

My father's warehouse was washed down in ISIG 
or '17. The remains were there in 1823 and '24. It 
was a double log house, and was undermined by the 
lake. 

Persons were buried in the old burying ground in 
1797. A Mr. Eldridge was drowned at Grand 
river, and his body was brought here. We got some 
boards and made a strong box for a coffin. We put 



teE FIRST BURIAL. 897 

liiiu in, and strung it on a pole witli cords, to carry 
liim up to the burying ground. Built a fence around 
the grave. 

The water rose in 1813 — overflowed all the low 
ground. Bank begun to slide in 1818. Ontario 
street was cut out at the time of the war. 

The Connecticut Land Company Iniilt two build- 
ings between Superior and Union lanes. 

The general landing was near foot of Superior 
lane. Vessels could seldom get into the river. They 
anchored oflT and had lighters. When they came in 
they landed at the foot of Superior lane. 

My father died in 1814. They began to work 
Superior lane very early — soon after I came here. 

The Indians had been camping on the beach at the 
Point, and left a cat there which my mother wanted. 
It was in 1^98, I went with her to catch the cat, 
who ran under the logs l)ack of the beach, and as I 
jumped over after her I went plump into the water, 
on this side where the swamp was. 

In 1806, the chiinnel was three rods wide, and ten 
inches deep. My brother went in there to bathe, 
and got on the bar. I was across the river in the 
iield topping corn. I saw his hands out of the water 
and ran there as fast as I could. He was never seen 
any more. The river has never been so far east as 
it was then. 

In 1803 and 'Od, the hill road was traveled to 
Painesville. It crossed the Cuyahoga at the foot of 



398 



MILITARY AFFAIRS. 



IJniou and Mandrake lanes where the Indians used 
to cross. They swam their horses. 

In 1802, a man killed a bear witli his hoe on 
Water street, near the Light House. 

1804. 

MILITARY ELECTION AND REMONSTRANCE. 

"To Elijah Wadsavorth Maj. Gent. 4ith Division: 

Agreeable to General orders, the Qualified Electors 
of the fourth Company district, in the second Brig- 
ade, of the fourth Division of the Ohio Militia ; met 
at the house of James Kingsbery, Esq., at eleven 
o'clock forenoon, and maid choice of three Judges 
and a clerk, and when duely sworn proceded and 
made choice of Loranzo Carter Captain, and Nathan- 
iel Doan Lieutenant, and Samuel Jones Ensign for 
sd Company given under our hands and seals at 
Cleveland Trumble county ; this seventh day of May 
one thousand eight hundred and four. 

James Kingsbery, ^ Judo-es 
Nathaniel Doan, I of the 
Benjamin Gold, j Election.-' 

REMONSTRANCE. 

" To Elijah Wads worth, Major General of the ?>(l 
Division of Militia of tJte State of Ohio : 
Sir : — We, the undersigned, hereby beg leave to 

represent that the proceedings of the compaii}- of 



An APPHAL WITtlOlTT EFFECT. 399 

Militia, on Monday, the 7tli day of instant May, in 
choosing officers, in our opinion, illegal and improper, 
I^^irstly. By admitting persons under the age of 
eighteen years to vote, and Secondly. By admitting 
persons not liable to do military duty to vote. 
Thirdly. In admitting men to vote who did not 
belong to the town. FourtMy. By not comparing 
the votes with the poll l)oolv at the close of the elec- 
tion. We also consider the man who is returned as 
chosen Captain ineligable to the office. Firstly. By 
giving spiritous liquors to the voters previous to 
the election. Secondly. On account of having fre- 
quently threatened to set the savages against the 
inhabitants. All which charges we consider prove- 
able and able to be substanciated by good and suffi- 
cient witnesses. We therefore beg leave to request 
that the appointment of officers in the township of 
Cleveland may be set aside, and the said company 
led to a new choice. 

Thadeus Lacey, William W. Williams, 

EoDOLFus Edwards, Amos Spafford, 

Joel Thorp, Kobert Carr, 

James Hamilton, Abner Cochran." 

It does not appear that this remonstrance pro- 
duced any effect. At the next election Caeter with- 
drew or was dropped, though he was present and 
acted as one of the judges. 



400 TREATY AVniI THE INDIANS. 



1805. 

" Major Carter's son, Henry, a smart boy of about 
eleven years, was drowned at the moutli of the river. 
Search was made along the beach for the body, many 
days without effect. David Abbott built the " Cuy- 
ahoga Packet " at Chagrin river, a schooner of twenty 
tons, which sailed on lake Erie until the war, when 
it was captured by the British." — (Barr.) 

Judge Huntington about this time abandoned 
his hewed log house, the most aristocratic residence 
in Cleveland city, and removed to the mills he had 
purchased at the falls of Mill creek. This was prol)- 
ably owing to the same cause, which induced other 
families to prefer the highlands, the prevalence here 
of the detestable ague. What is now Newburg was 
then much the largest settlement. 

This was the year of the final settlement with the 
Indians, for their claims to lands west of the river. 
Wm. Dean, on his return from the treaty ground, 
writes to Judge Huntington as follows : The letter 
is superscribed to "The Hon'l. Sam'l. Huntington, 
at the mills near Cleaveland," and is dated "On 
board the sloop Contractor, near Black river, July 7, 

1805." 

" Dear Sir : — On the 4th instant, we closed a 
treaty with the Indians, for the unextinguished part 
of the Connecticut Reserve, and on account of the 



PRANCINU DUtCIOIEN EXPECTED. 4()1 

United States ; for all the lands soutli of it, to the 
^vest line. Mr. Phelps and myself pay alDout $7,000 
in cash, and about $12,000 in six yearly payments, 
of $2,000 each. The government pays $13,760, that 
is the annual interest, to the Wyandots, Delawares, 
Munsees, and to those Senecas on the land, forever. 
The exjDense of the treaty will be about $5,000, 
including rum, tobacco, bread, meat, presents, expen- 
ses of the seraglio, the commissioners, agents and 
contractors. I write in haste, being extremely sorry 
I have not time to send you a copy of the treaty. 
You will see General Ciiampiois", who will l)e able to 
give you further information. 

Having some intention of making a purchase of 
considerable tracts of land, in different parts of the 
Keserve, amounting to about 30,000 acres ; I beg of 
you to inform me what I should allow per acre, pay- 
ments equal to cash ; and address me at Easton, Pa. 
From thence, if I make a contract, I expect, with all 
speed, to send fifteen or twenty families of prancing 
Dutchmen." 

Abraham Tappen, of Unionville, Ashtabula Co., 
O., among many reminiscences of the surveys and set- 
tlements, thus refers to this treaty. 

" Owing to various causes, a treaty for the extin- 
guishment of the Indian title to the Company's land 
west of the Cuyahoga, and also the Sufferers', or Fire 
Land, was not helduntil June, 1805. Cleveland was 
designated as the place for holding the treaty. 



•402 kELUCTANCE OF THE TRIBE^i. 

The Indians to the west, having claims to the lands 
in question, were invited to attend in council at that 
place. The Indians residing in Western New York, 
having some claim to the land, sent a deputation of 
not far from thirty of their numl)er, to attend the 
treaty at Cleveland. They arrived at that place in 
June, accompanied by Jasper Parish, their inter- 
preter. The treaty was to l^e held under the auspi- 
ces of the United States (Tovernment. Commission- 
ers from the different parties interested in the treaty, 
were promptly and in season at the contemplated 
treaty ground. On the part of the General Govern- 
ment, Col. Jewet was the Commissioner, a very large 
muscular man. On the part of the Connecticut Land 
Company, Gen. Henry Champion appeared as Com- 
missioner. General Chajipion was also of more than 
common size, and a man of good sense. 

" For some cause the Indians living to the west, 
and interested in the subject matter of the treaty, 
refused to meet the Commissioners in council at 
Cleveland. And, if we except the dej^utation from 
New York, few or no Indians appeared at that place. 
After staying a few days at Cleveland, and being well 
assured that the Indians would not meet them in 
treaty there, the Commissioners proceeded westward ; 
and after some delay, and a show of great reluctance 
on the part of the Indians, they finally succeeded in 
meeting them in council. The "treaty was held at 
the Ogontz place near Sandusky City." 



SPECIE AND WHISKY RECEIVED. 403 

I Other authorities have it at Fort Industry, on the 
Maumee. ] 

" It is said l^y those who attended this treaty, that 
the Indians in parting with and making sale of the 
above lands to the whites, did so with much reluc- 
tance, and after the treaty was signed, many of them 
w^ept. On the day that the treaty was brought to a 
close, the specie, in payment of the purchase money, 
arrived on the treaty ground. The sj^ecie came from 
Pittsburg, and was conveyed by the way of Warren, 
Cleveland, and the lake shore to the place whei'e 
wanted. The treasure was entrusted to the care of 
Ly.aian Potter, Esq., of Warren, who was attended 
Iw the following persons as an escort: Josiah W. 
Brown, John Lane, James Staunton, Jonathan 
Church, Lorenzo Carter, and another person by 
the name of Clark, all resolute men and well armed. 
The money and other property as presents to the 
Indians, was distril)uted to them the next day after 
the signing of the treaty. The evening of the last 
day of the treaty, a barrel of whisky was dealt out 
to the Indians. The consequent results of such a 
proceeding were all experienced at that time." 

Prof. KiRTLAND, in an introductory lecture deliv- 
ered at the oj^ening of the term in the Cleveland 
Medical College a few years since, related the follow- 
ing incident, connected with this attempt at holding 
a treaty : 

" Wliile waiting their tardy movements, the com- 



404 MR. granger's PREbtdTION. 

pany collected one afternoon on the l)ank of the lake, 
near the present location of the light-honse, and were 
observing the descent of the sun, into the l)road 
expanse of waters at the west. The gorgeous dis- 
plays of light and shade, heightened by the brilliant 
reflections from the lake, unsurpassed by the bright- 
est scenes ever exhibited by Italy's boasted skies, 
served, in connection with concurring circumstances, 
to add interest to the occasion. One of the company, 
the Hon. Gideon Granger, distinguished for talents, 
enterprise and forethought, uttered, to his astonished 
associates, this bold and what was then deemed, 
extraordinary prediction : 

" ' Within fifty years,' exclaimed he, ' an extensive 
city will occupy these grounds, and vessels will sail 
directly from this j^ort into the Atlantic Ocean.' 

" A prophecy so specific and decided, coming from 
such a source, though received with a share of skej^- 
ticism on the part of some, made a deep impression 
on the great body of his hearers." 

Charles Jewet, was the Commissioner on the 
part of the United States, Henry Champion for the 
Land Company, and I. Mills, for the Sufterers 1^}' 
fire, or the Fire Lands Company. 

At the election in the fall of 1805, the poll book 
for Cleveland was rejected for two very good reasons. 
The certificate to the oaths of the clerks and judges 
was not attached, neither were the signatures of the 
judges of election* The number of votes cast was 



ELECTIONS IN 1805. 405 

twenty-nine, of wliich James Kingsbury had twenty- 
seven for State Rejiresentative. In the county of 
Trumbull there were given for Edward Tiffin, for 
(lovernor; (the second term) three hundred and 
seventy-nine votes, and none against him. Jaimes 
Kingsbury received for Representative three hun- 
dred and seven votes, and Homer Hine three 
hundred and fourteen. 

MILITARY ELECTION IN CLEVELAND. 

2h Elijah Wads worth Maj. Genl. ^tJi Division : 

We, the Judges of an election Holden in the 
seventh Comj)any of the second Battalion of the 
First Regiment of the fourth Division of the Ohio 
Melitia do Certify that the persons here after named 
is just and truly elected in sd Company to the differ- 
ent posts atached to their names, given under our 
hands. This the twentyeth day of May said eighteen 
liundred and five. 

Nathaniel Doan, Captain. 
Samuel Jones, Leuftenant. 
Sylvanus Burk, Ensign. 

Lorenzo Carter,' 1 

AVm. Wr. WilliamSi \ Judges. 

Will'm. Erwin, J 

Done in presence of Rodolphus Edwards, Clerk. 



406 RESULTS OF BAD SPELLINCx. 

ELECTORS' NAMES. 

Jack F. Mason, Nehemiah Dille, 

David Kellog, Timothy Doan, 

Eb. Charter, Seth Doan, 

Jacob Coleman, Steven Gilbert, 

Ben Warden, Samuel Hurst, 

Daniel Parker, Richard Blin, 

Cristofer Gun, Epeta"'' Rogers, ? 

"William Coleman, Samuel Jones, 

John Doan, Nathaniel Doan, 

Thomas Thomas, William Erwin, 

Henry Norton, Ben Wood, 

Harry Gltn, Sylvanus Burk, 

Jonathan Hubbard, Samuel Dille, 
Mason Clerk, Meage Data, 

Nathan Chapman, Charles Prard. ? 

Nathaniel Doan, Captain, 29 votes for Captain. 

Samuel Jones, 29 votes for Leuftenant. 

Sylvanus Burk, 2-1 votes for Ensign. 

Samuel Jones, one vote for Leuftenant. 

Ezekiel Holley (Hawley) six votes for Ensign. 

These returns are in the hand writing of llonoL- 
piius Edwards. It is very difficult to decypher some 
of the names which are given literally. In this way 
the names of families are sulyect to such changes 
that the originals cannot be recognized, " Hawley," 
has noAv become " Holly " or " Holley " which is 
identical with the Holley's of Salisbury, without 
any relationship. 

The name of Mr. Williams, of Newburg, the 
builder of the first mill is in the early papers written 



A DISTRESSING SHIPWRECK. 407 

Wheeler W., Wm. W., and Willi a.ai Wheeler. 
Our immediate ancestors were not as well versed in 
orthography as they were in penmanship. The dis- 
turbances of the Kevolution, had a depressing effect 
upon education, even in New England. 

1806. 

" Early in the spring, Mr. Hunter, his wife and 
one child, with a colored man, called Ben, and a 
colored boy, were driven ashore in a skiff, a short 
distance east of Rocky river. The shore at that 
place is a rocky cliff, nearly perpendicular. They 
held as fast to the rocks as possible, the surges 
breaking over them continually. 

"The wreck occurred on Friday, and the storm 
continued to increase that night. On Saturday 
there was no abatement, and the children died. 
Mrs. Hunter expired on Sunday, and Mr. Hunter 
on Monday. Some traders were j^assing along the 
coast for Detroit on Tuesday, and discovering Ben, 
who was the only survivor, brought him back to 
Cleveland. He was almost naked, having for three 
days and four nights kept his position on the cliffs, 
without a morsel to eat, by means of some bushes 
Avhich grew in the crevices of the rocks. Major 
Carter took care of Ben, and treated him kindly, 
for a year or more, while he was an invalid. The 
flesh came ofl* from his lower limbs, rendering him 
a very disagreeable object. 



408 SURVEYS WEST OF THE KIVER. 

" Surveys were commeuced this year on tlie lands 
west of the Cuyahoga river. This brought many 
strangers to the place, which contained more white 
people than ever before. The year was rendered 
conspicuous by the holding of a militia training. 
They marched and countermarched to the lively roll 
of Joseph Burke's drum, which he had used in the 
Revolutionary War, and to the soul-stirring strains 
of Lewis Dille's fife. They were all undoubtedly 
brave, many of them bearing on their shoulders the 
old fire-arms of the Revolution." 

"The little settlement sustained a severe loss in 
the death of David Clark, and received a valuable 
accession in Judge Walworth and Major Perry, 
Senior." — (Barr.) 

Abraham Tappen, an old surveyor, proposed to 
run the town lines. The following extracts are from 
a fiill account of the survey by himself, published in 
the Cleveland Herald^ in January, 1851 : 

" I had spoken to Mr. Amos Sessions to join with 
me, and endeavor to obtain a contract for surveying 
the new purchase the coming season. Mr. Sessions 
was not a surveyor, but he was a man then in the 
prime of life, and possessing energy of character, 
and great perseverence in business he undertook, 
would make him a safe and trustworthy partner. 
We accordingly made the following proposals to be 
laid before the Directors : 



SURVEYS WEST OF THE RIVER. 409 

' Painesville, August 20th, 1805. 

'To Gen. Henry Champion: — We will survey 
the land belonging to the Connecticut Land Com- 
pany, west of the Cuyahoga river, at the rate of 
dollars, cents per mile. We will survey 

it into townships, and make other sub-divisions as 
shall be directed l)y the Company. We will plainly 
blaze and accurately chain the lines; will map, and 
return field book, tfec. We will begin and finish the 
survey next season. For the purpose of furnishing 
provisions and other necessaries for said survey to 
receive dollars in hand at the commencement 

of the survey; remainder at the close. For the 
well and faithful performance of sucli survey, we 
will bind ourselves in bonds with sufiicient security. 

'Abr'm Tappen, 

'Anson Sessions.' 

The contract was made, the work commenced and 
vigorously prosecuted during the season. 

"From the west side of the Reserve, five hundred 
thousand acres of land, was to be measured off by 
the surveyor of the Fire Land Company. Almon 
RuGGLES, Es(|., was the surveyor of that Company. 
The Ijalance of the Reserve, from the east line of the 
Fire Land to the Cuyahoga river, was comprised in 
our contract for surveying, amounting to some eight 
hundred and thirty tliousand acres. We agreed to 
and did meet in Cleveland on the loth of May, to- 
27 



410 THE 8URVEY0RS OF CLEVELAND. 

j^etlier with our men, chain carriers, pack-horses and 
their drivers. Capt. James Hakper, of Harpers- 
field, was engaged as surveyor. The names of the 
men employed Avere James Arbuckle, Ira Wright, 
Augustus Staughton, Guy Carlton, John Ross, 
Samuel Parker, Mr. McMahan and his two sons, 
Alex. McMahan and Wm. McMahan, and a young 
man l^y the name of Hewit, and an Englishman, a 
worthless fellow, whom we soon discharged. Also, 
for a sliort time, an active young half-breed Indian, 
who took charge of a very vicious Indian horse, 
hired as a pack-horse. The horse had once been the 
property of the noted Indian chief Ogontz. As 
before stated, our party assembled at Cleveland on 
the 15th of May, and our boat with flour, tents, and 
other necessary articles, came into the river on the 
same day. We were prepared to send out two sur- 
veying parties immediately ; but the surveyor desig- 
nated by the United States Government to run the 
south line had not yet arrived. We had notified 
Judge KiRTLAND at what time we should be at 
Cleveland to commence the survey. He accordingly 
met us at that place on the day of our arrival. As 
it could not be known the prefcise time when the 
Government would commence running the south 
line, Judge Kirtland proposed that our surveying 
parties should commence, and shoxdd measure off 
their own meridians, taking care to commence so far 
south that when the south line was run, it would be 



PROGRESS OF THE SURVEY. 411 

sure to cross our ranges. The Government surveyor 
did not commence running the south line until the 
24th of June, at which time we had nearly finished 
our meridians. 

"The south line of the Reserve, as surveyed in 
1796 by Seth Pease, measuring from the Pennsyl- 
vania line, ended at Tuscarawas river, a distance of 
fifty-six miles. A further distance of sixty-four miles 
was yet to be run, making the whole distance, to the 
south-west corner of the Reserve, one hundred and 
twenty miles. From the south-west corner a line 
Avas to be I'un to the lake, parallel to the west line 
of Pennsylvania. The running of these lines was 
to be done l)y a surveyor, under the direction of the 
Secretary of the Treasury, at Washington. The 
surveyor selected by the Treasurer was Setii Pease, 
then a principal clerk in the post ofiice department 
at Washington, and who, ten years before, had run 
the eastern section of the south line, to the Tus- 
carawas." — (A. Tappen.) 

The same process was gone through with to ob- 
tain a division west of the Cuyahoga as had been 
east of it. Tappen and his assistants, of whom 
Capt. Harper was the principal one, completed their 
meridians and parallels during the season of 1806. 
An ecpializing committee was out with the surveyors, 
whose track among the towns is shown upon a map 
now before me, by dotted lines. The parties in the 
woods sufi'ered from want of water, there being an 



412 THE FIRE LANDS TRACT. 

unusual droughtli that summer. On the 16th of 
June a total eclipse of the sun occurred, which for a 
short time, produced in the shady forest the darkness 
of night. 

A commission, consisting of Amos Spafford, of 
Cleveland, and Almon Ruggles, of Huron, was or- 
ganized to establish the division line, between the 
Fire Lands and the Land Company. Their directions 
were, to lay off half a million of acres from the west 
end of the Reserve, using the meridian one hundred 
and twenty miles west of Pennsylvania, as the 
farther side, and the forty-first parallel as a base. 
Their measurements did not agree with those of Mr. 
Pease, and the dividing line was not established 
until sometime in the winter of 1806-7. 

This left an unsurveyed space on the margin of the 
Company's tract. These difficulties ];)rotracted the 
work of survey and of the final draft. The Govern- 
ment not being satisfied with the southern boundary, 
ordered it to be re-surveyed in 1808. 

The committee on equalization reported to Judge 
KiRTLAND, and in February, 1807, he started for 
Hartford with the results. Only one whole town- 
ship was sub-divided into lots for the purpose of 
equalization, but several of the fractional ones on the 
lake shore, were. No person then lived on the tract, 
as Mr. Tappen expresses it " white, red or black." 

In 1805 the Government concluded to have this 
coast open no longer to free trade with Canada. A 



THE FIRST CUSTOM HOUSE. 413 

collection district was established for the south shore 
of the lake, called the " District of Erie," and John 
Walworth, of Painesville, was appointed collector. 
The mouth of the Cuyahoga was made a port of 
entry; and in 1806 Mr. Walworth became a resi- 
dent of Cleveland with his family. His first clear- 
ance was issued to the schooner " Good Intent," 
which was soon after lost on Lono; Point tosrether 
with cargo and crew. Up to this time, the more 
healthy settlement at Painesville, had taken the lead 
of the sickly city of Cleveland. The mouth of 
Grand river presented a much better natural harbor 
than the Cuyahoga. A State road had been survey- 
ed from the forks of the Muskingum (near Coshoc- 
ton) to the lake, which terminated at Grand river. 
Cleveland had hitherto been on the verge of the 
settlements. 

On the west bank of the Cuyahoga, within the 
cast of a stone from the houses under the hill, the 
Indian tribes had claimed the territory as their own, 
indefinitely westward, and the claim had been re- 
spected. They had the acknowledged right to es- 
tablish their lodges in any number, within half rifle 
range of the principal residents of Cleveland, from 
whence, at any time, they might instantly destroy 
the settlement, by a concerted discharge of their 
guns. This state of affairs was now ended, and the 
Indians were here only on sufferance and good be- 
havior. 



414 T. 1). avebb's statement. 

Tlie Ciiyalioga had one advantage Avhicli Grand 
river had not. Its boatable waters approached 
those of the Tuscarawas, having a portage of only 
seven miles, to reach indefinite canoe navigation con- 
necting with the Ohio river. This route began 
again to be regarded as important, expecting through 
it to obtain commercial intercourse of much value. 
A scheme for improving the rivers and portages was 
already under discussion. 

1807. 

Nothing of special interest occurred at Cleveland 
in 1807, except the excitement caused by the mur- 
der of NiCKSAu or NicKSHAW. The late Thomas D. 
Webb, of Warren came here in the fall, and thus 
describes the town and its society : 

"I first saw Cleveland in October, 1807. I put 
up for a day or two with Major A^vros Spaffoed, 
who kept a tavern. Having a letter of introduction 
to Governor Huntington, (then, however, a Judge,) 
I called at his house, and as he was absent on the 
circuit of the Supreme Court, I presented it to his 
wife and induced her to board me for a short time. 
I remained about three weeks, I think, and then left 
Cleveland. Gov. Huntington then lived in a log 
house, standing a little south of Superior street, not 
far from the site of the American House. He had a 
frame barn, in size thirty feet by forty, near by. In 



A SOCIAL PAETY. 415 

his barn-yard I saw wild turkies for the first time. 
At that time the family of Governor Huntington 
was composed of his wife, children, the number I do 
not recollect, and one female domestic, Patty Ryan, 
who came with him from Connecticut, another, a Miss 
Cobb, who also came with him, had returned. All 
the families on the city or ten acre lots, or the lands 
adjoining, at that time, that I recollect, and I think 
that I recollect all, were, Amos Spafford, Gil- 
bert, Nathan Perry, Lorenzo Carter, Samuel 
Huntington, John Walworth, and an Irish family 
I have forgotten. Samuel Dodge had lived on a 
ten acre lot, but had at that time taken up his 
residence at Euclid ; other families had resided there 
also, but at the time I arrived, had removed. There 
were the remains of some two or three buildings 
along the bank of the river, one of which I was told 
had been occupied as a store by a Scotchman, by the 
name of Alex. Campbell. 

"Those buildings were all occupied at that time. 
When I was at Gov. Huntington's, there was a 
social party at his house, so far as I recollect, all 
females, except myself. There were several married 
ladies, I recollect particularly but two, Mrs. Wal- 
worth and Mrs. Huntington. We had all, or near- 
ly all, the young ladies in the place. I think there 
could not have been more than one absent ; those 
present were she that is now Mrs. Long, Mrs. 
Mathews, of Painesville, and a daughter of Mr. 



416 senega's ideas of justice. 

Carter, afterwards Mrs. Miles and subsequently 
Mrs. Strong.'' 

What transpired in reference to the demise of 
NiCKSHAW, is well set forth in a letter from General 
Elijah Wadsworth, dated at Canfield, February 
5th, 1807, to Judge Huntington, and his reply. 

" Judge Huntington, Cleveland, 

^^Dear Sir : — Since I last wrote you, we have had 
information from your quarter that Nicksiiaw was 
killed instead of John Mohawk. If this be true, 
as Mohawk was the one who shot Mr. Diver, ought 
not Mohawk to be demanded of their chief, and de- 
livered up for trial V 

Elijah Wadsworth. 

"Cleveland, February 10th, 1807. 
" General Elijah Wadsworth, Canfield, 

^^Deav Sir : — Yours of the 2 1st came to hand on 
Saturday last, and that of the 5th yesterday. I had, 
previous to the receipt of the first letter, seen Seneca 
and others of his tribe, also Ogontz and fifteen of 
his people who came here at the request of Seneca. 

"As the deceased was not one of Ogontz' nation, 
he said he should not like to lead in obtaining re- 
dress, but would be satisfied with what Seneca 
agreed to. 

"Seneca said all he wanted was that the same 
measure of justice should be dealt out to Indians 
and white men. He said he was not content to see 



irtJDSON READY FOR \VAR. 41? 

ail the exertions of our civil authority, used against 
those who had shot the white man while we were 
asleep^ as to the murder of an innocent Indian. He 
concluded by saying, he should be satisfied if both 
the Indian and the white agressors, could have a fair 
and equal trial. 

" I gave him assurances that the law would be put 
in force equally against both, and persuaded him to 
wait peaceably until the Court should meet at War- 
ren, My expectation was, and still is, that the 
Court of Common Pleas would issue a Bench war- 
rant for the apprehension of Dareow and Williams. 

" It is said the magistrates of Hudson have been 
deterred by threats, from taking measures to secure 
the offenders. I hope for the honor of Hudson, that 
the majority of the ]3eople do not countenance such 
atrocities, and that some of the civil authorities will 
have fomness enough to ^\\t the law in force. 

" Mr. Allen Gaylord told me, that the first man 
who attempted to arrest Darrow and Williams 
would be shot, and that the constables dare not ex- 
ecute a warrant against them, and that if the Indians 
wanted war they were ready for them. * * '^ 

" I had also called on Major Carter, who agrees 
with me that the best way to give the Indians satis- 
faction is to do them justice, that since our talk 
with them, there was no immediate danger, and no 
necessity of a further conference as to what course 
would be pursued against our offenders. On the 



416 HOW NicSsHAW Was kill-ed. 

same day I saw Seneca again, who said he had been 
threatened by some Hudson people. He did not 
wish for war, and would engage to deliver John 
Mohawk when required to do it, voluntarily, when 
Darrow and Williams were secured for trial. 

" He and Major Carter and Mr. Campbell agree 
in their story. They went up to the place where 
NiCKSHAW was killed and buried him. There was 
no appearance on the snow, of a iight or scuffle and 
no club near. Nickshaw appears to have been shot 
in the back as he was running, and fell dead in his 
tracks. 

" Seneca observed that the Indians might lie and 
that white men might lie, but the snow could tell no 
lies. He is well convinced that it was an unneces- 
sary murder, and is willing it should be ascertained 
by trial. Under this conviction, justice demands, 
and our own interests require, that he should be 
gratified. 

" In case it should be necessary to demand the de- 
livery of John Mohawk under the treaty, the regular 
course is to get affidavits to the necessarj^ facts, 
transmit them to the Governor, and request him to 
make the demand. But I believe this to be un- 
necessary. -JJ * J have no doubt that Seneca 
will freely deliver John Mohawk, ^^hen I assure 
him that legal steps have been taken against Dar- 
row and Williams. Meanwhile, I think that you 
may assure your friends^ that for the present none of 



t)EATtt 01?* SEIfECA. 410 

the Seneca nation among us, will harm our citizens 
and their property. 

" T am, sir, respectfully yours, 

Sam'l Huntington." 

Seneca, who, according to Mr. Cakter's state- 
ment, was a brother of Big Son, is well spoken of 
by all the early settlers. The late Edward Paine, 
of Chardon, was the companion of the Stiles fam- 
ily during the dreary and severe winter of 1796-7. 
After setting forth the conduct and character of the 
Indians who frequented the Cuyahoga, he says, " That 
they are capable of disinterested benevolence, and 
confer favors when none are expected, cannot be 
doubted by any one acquainted with Seneca, or as 
his tribe called him, " Stigwanish." This in English 
means "Standing Stone." In him there was the 
dignity of the Roman, the honesty of Aristides, and 
the benevolence of Penn. He was never known to 
ask a donation, but would accej^t one as he ought, 
])ut not suffer it to rest here. An appropriate re- 
turn was soon to be made. He was so much of a 
tetotaler as to abjure ardent spirits, since in a 
drunken spree, he had aimed a blow at his wife with 
a tomahawk, and split the head of his child which 
was on her back." His home was in Seneca county, 
Ohio, from w^hom it was probably named. He also 
came to a violent death in 1816, at the hands of 
Jacob Ammond, of Holmes county, Ohio. Ammond 
claims that it was done in self defence, Seneca hav- 
ing first fired upon him. 



420 INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT'S. 

During this year the great scheme for opening 
communication between lake Erie and the Ohio 
river was put before the public. Resolutions had 
been offered by Joshua Forman in the New York 
Legislature, for a survey for a canal to connect Hud- 
son river with lake Erie. 

The improvement of the Cuyahoga and Tuscara- 
was was then the great idea, of this part of the 
country and of Ohio. 

It was thought if twelve thousand dollars could 
])y some means be raised, the channels of those 
streams could be cleared of logs and trees, and the 
Portage path made passable for loaded wagons. 
Thus goods might ascend the Cuyahoga in boats to 
the Old Portage, be hauled seven miles to the Tus- 
carawas, near New Portage, and thence descend that 
stream in batteaux. This great object excited so 
much attention, that the Legislature authorized a 
lottery to raise the money. A copy of the scheme, 
and one of the tickets is here given. 

Q No. 11441. 

CUYAHOGA AND MUSKINGUM NAVIGATION 
LOTTERY. 

THIS ticket entitles the bearer to such Prize as 
shall be drawn against its number (if called for 
within twelve months after the drawing is com- 
pleted,) subject to a deduction of 12A per cent. 

No. 11441. 

.J. WALWORTH, \ -^^f'f ^"^ f/".-^"""' 

' ( of L omvussioners. 



THE SCHEME. 421 

SCHEME 

OF A 

LOTTERY 

FOR 
IMPROVING THE NAVIGATION 

BETWEEN LAKE ERIE AND THE RIVER OHIO, THROlKiH THE 

CUYAHOGA AND M U S K I N G U ]\I . 

THE Legislature of the State of Ohio, having at 
their last Session, granted a Lottery to raise the sum 
of Twelve Thousand Dollars, for the above mention- 
ed purpose, and appointed the subscribers Commis- 
sioners to carry the same into effect — They offer the 
following SCHEME to the Public. 

FIRST CLASS. 

12,800 Tickets at $5 each, |64,000 

ITrize of $5,000 is $5,000 

2,500 5,000 

1,000 5,000 

500 5,000 

100 .5,000 

50 5,000 

10 34,000 

3568 $64,000 

Prizes subject to a deduction of twelve and a licdf 

per cent. 

The drawing of the First Class will commence at 

Cleveland on the first Monday of January, 1808, or 

as soon as three-fourths of the Tickets shall be sold ; 

and the Prizes will be paid in sixty days after the 

drawing is completed. 



2 


do. 


5 


do. 


10 


do. 


50 


do. 


100 


do. 


3400 


do. 



422 INDUCEMENTS SET FORTH. 

Holders of Tickets, drawing Prizes of Ten Dol- 
lars, may, at their election, receive the money, or 
two Tickets of Five Dollars each in the Second 
Class. 

For the convenience of the owners of fortunate 
nmnbers, Persons will be appointed in Boston, Hart- 
ford, New York and Albany, to pay Prizes. Their 
names, together with a List of Prizes, will be pnl)- 
lished in some Newspaper printed in each of those 
places, and in three of the Newspapers printed in 
the State of Ohio. Persons will also be designated 
to pay Prizes in Zanesville and Steubenville. 

The subscribers have taken the Oath and given 
the Bonds required by Law, for the taithful discharge 
of their trust, and they flatter themselves that an 
object of such extensive importance, will not fail to 
attract the attention and patronage of many, who 
are not allured by the advantageous prospects held 
out in the Scheme. 

John Walworth, Esq., of Cleveland, is appoint- 
ed Agent of the Commissioners, to sign the Tickets, 
and transact the business of the Board in their recess. 

Samuel Huntington, Zaccheus A. Beatty, 

Bezaleel Wells, Lorenzo Carter, 

Jonathan Cass, John Shore, 

Seth Adams, James Kingsbury, 

Amos Spafford, Turhand Kirtland, 

John Walworth, Timothy Doane, 

Board of Commissioners. 
Cleveland, May 23d, 1807. 

CRAMER, I'RIXTER. 



THE FOURTH DRAFT. 423 

The drawing never came off. Those who had 
purchased tickets, many years afterwards received 
their money back without interest. Leonard Case 
remembered when lie was the sole owner of one of 
those tickets. 

From a receipt of Stephen Oviatt, of Hudson, it 
also appears that he possessed one, the price of 
which was $5.00. It reads thus : 

Hudson, 29th Jan'y, 1811. 
Received of Heman Oviatt a Ticket of Cuyahoga and 
Muskingum Lottery, to account with him or the Man- 
agers, on or before the Drawing of said Lottery. No. 
7775, Letter K. 

«f5,00. Stephen Oviatt. 

The paper on which the copy of Judge Wal- 
worth's letter is written, is of the old fashioned 
coarse brown sort, made by hand. It bears the 
name OHIO, C. B. <k. B., in water lines, and was 
made within the State. 

Judge Huntington was elected Governor of Ohio, 
succeeding Edward Tiffin, who became a member 
(jf the United States Senate. Another large draft 
took place April 2d, 1807, including most of the 
Company's land west of the Cuyahoga. 

1808. 

"Stephen Gilbert, Josepi^ Plume, Adolphus 
Spafford, a son of Amos, and Mr. Gilmore, started 
early in the spring for Maumee river. They were 



424 RESCUE OF Mil. PLUMB. 

in a Mackinaw l)oat, with provisions and goods 
which Nathan Perky, senior, was sending to his 
sou Nathan, at Black river. A young woman 
named Mary Billingek, Avas a passenger for Black 
river. Mr. Wihte, of Newburg, and two sons of 
Mr. Plumb, were too late for the boat. They were 
to go by land along the Indian trail, to overtake the 
party at the river, where young Perry had a store. 
When about half way there, they observed a wrecked 
boat on the beach, and hallooing as loud as they 
could, had a response from Mr. Plumb the elder. He 
was on the beach, below a cliif sixty or seventy feet 
high, benumbed Avith cold and very much injured. 

" They soon learned from him that a squall had 
struck their craft about a mile from shore, capsizing 
it, and that all but himself were drowned. 

" They were unable to reach him, down the steep 
rocks. Mr. White and one of his sons started off 
rapidly for Black river. The son who remained, 
getting out upon an ironwood sapling, bent it down 
Mdth his weight, and dropping twenty feet or more, 
reached his father at the foot of the cliff. During 
the night Mr. White returned with Quintus F. At- 
kins, and Mr. Perry. They all managed to haul 
Mr. Plumb up to the top of the bank. As he was 
a corpulent man, of two hundred to two hundred 
and fifty pounds weight, and cpiite helpless from ex- 
haustion, this was no small undertaking. It was 
done after midnight, by the light of torches. The 



FATALITY BY DROWNING. 425 

Ijodies of Gilbert, Spafford and Gilmore, were 
near 1)}', and were taken to Cleveland by Major 
I*£RRY, Avlio came along there with his boat. They 
were all good swimmers, except Mr. Plu3ib, who 
held fast to the boat after it upset, and was thus 
driven ashore. Gilbert told his fellows to rid them- 
selves of their clothing, and thus they swam towards 
the shore." 

"Had the weather and water been warm, they 
\vould prol)ably have reached it. The corpse of the 
hired girl Mary, was found afterwards on the shoi-e 
\vest of the wreck, and was buried at Black river. 

" Of eighteen deaths which had occurred within 
this settlement, during the twelve years of its ex- 
istence, eleven ^vere by drowning. There had l.)een 
no physicians nearer than Hudson and Austinburg 
up to this time." — (Barr.) 

1809. 

"This year Joel Thorp built a small schooner of 
five or six tons, and called her the 'Sally,' and 
Alex. Simpson built one of about the same size, 
christened the 'Dove.' Levi Johnson (now livino-, 
18()0,) and his l)rothers, Samuel and Jonathan be- 
came residents of the place. Amos Spafford was 
elected Representative in the Lower House from 
this place, then embraced in the County of Geauga. 
He was soon after appointed collector of the new. 

•v>S 



426 STANLEY GRISWOLD. 

port of entry, established at Maumee, and in the 
spring of 1810 removed to Perry sburg. The county 
of Cuyahoga being organized, Nathan Perry, Sr., 
Augustus E. Gilbert and Nathaniel Doan were 
elected Associate Judges, all residents of Cleveland 
Township, as it then vs^as." — (Barr.) 

Although the project of connecting the lakes and 
the Ohio river with the sum of twelve thousand 
dollars had failed, Cleveland was attracting atten- 
tion. Stanley Griswold, of Connecticut, had been 
appointed Secretary for the territory of Michigan in 
1805, under Governor Hull, and Collector of the 
port of Detroit. On account of official difficulties 
he resigned, and took up his abode in this township, 
at Doan's Corners. A vacancy occurred in the 
Senate by the unexpected resignation of Mr. Tiffin. 
Governor Huntington appointed his friend Gris- 
woLD to the vacancy, and on his way to Washington 
he addressed a letter to Judge James Witherell, 
of the District Court of Michigan, in which he sets 
forth the condition and prospects of Cleveland. 

"S03IERSET, Pa., May 28th, 1809. 

Hon. James Witherell, now at Fair Haven, Vt. 

Decvr 8ir : — Passing in the stage to the Federal 
City, I improve a little leisure to acknowledge your 
letter fi-om Jefferson, Ohio, of the 16th instant. In 
reference to your inquiry (for a place for Doctor 
Elijah Coleman,) I have consulted the principal 



PROSPECTS FOR A PHYSICIAN. 427 

cliaracters, particularly Judge Walworth, wlio con- 
curs with me, tliat Cleveland would be an excellent 
place for a young physician, and cannot long remain 
unoccupied. This is based more on what the place 
is expected to be, than what it is. Even now a 
physician of eminence would command great prac- 
tice, from being called to ride over a large country, 
say fifty miles each way. There is now none of 
eminent or ordinary character in that extent. But 
settlements are scattered, and roads new and bad, 
wdiich would make it a painful practice. Within a 
few weeks Cleveland has been fixed upon by a com- 
mittee of the Legislature as the seat of justice for 
Cuyahoga count}'. Several respectable characters 
Avill remove to that to^vn. The country around bids 
fair to increase rapidly in population. A young 
physician of the qualifications described by you, 
Avill l)e certain to succeed, but for a short time, if 
^vithout means, must keep school, for which there is 
a good chance in winter, till a piece of ground, bring 
on a few goods, (for which it is a good stand,) or do 
something else in connection with his practice. I 
should be happy to see your friend. I am on my 
way to the Federal City, to take a seat in the Senate 
in place of Mr. Tiffin, who has recently resigned. 
Veiy truly your obedient servant, 

Stanley Gkiswold." 

According to Collector Walworth's report to the 
Treasury Department, the amount of goods, wares 



428 JOHN HARMON. 

and merchandise exported to foreign countries, (Can- 
ada) from April to October, 1809, was fifty dollars. 
At the fourth draft of April 2d, 1807, Samuel P. 
Lord and others drew the township of Brooklyn, 
No. 7, in Range 13. It was surveyed under their 
direction by Ezekip:l Hover, in 1809, the interior 
lines of which were ran with a variation of two de- 
grees east. The fifth and final division of the 
Land Company's property took place at Hartford, 
on the 5th of January of this year, at which the un- 
sold lots in Cleveland were included. 

LETTER FROM JOHN HARMON. 

Ravenna, June 11, 1860. 
Charles Whittlesy, Esq., Cleveland, 

Dear Sir : — I thank you for your kind invitation 
to attend the pioneer meeting at Newl^urg on the 
13 th. 

You suggest if I could not attend, that I should 
put something on paper for the occasion. I fear I 
can scarcely add an}i;liing of interest to Avhat I some 
time since wrote you. I first visited Cleveland, that 
part now called Newburg, in August, 1806, a boy 
of sixteen and a half years, and spent some ten days, 
perhaps more, in the family of W. W. Williams. 
During my stay there, I formed some acquaintance 
with those of the neighborhood, especially with 
those young men or youths of my age, among -whom 
were the Williams', the Ha:miltons, the Plu^a^u^ 



SETTLEMENT AT NEWBURG. 429 

and KiNGSBURYs, the Burks and the Guns, The 
Miles' had not then arrived. We attended meetings 
in a log barn at Doan's Corners once or twice, to 
hear the announcement of a new sect, by one Dan- 
iel Parker, who preached what he called Halcyon- 
ism — since, I believe, it has become extinct. We 
bathed together under the fall of Mill Creek, gather- 
ed cranberries in the marshes westward of the 
Edward's place, and danced to the music of Major 
Samuel Jones' violin at his house, afterwards the 
residence of my old friend, Ca])tain Allen Gaylord, 
Judge Huntington, afterwards Governor, lived then, 
I believe, at the place afterwards occupied l)y Dex- 
ter or Erastus Miles. Newburg street was opened 
previously, from the mill north to Doan's Corners, 
and was then lined with cultivated fields on l)otli 
sides, nearly the whole distance from Judge Kings- 
bury's to the mill. But much dead timl)er remained 
on the fields. There were some orchards of apple 
trees on some of the farms, and Judge Kingsbury's 
orchard bore a few apples that season, which was 
probably the first season of bearing. The Judge 
had a small nursery of apple trees, and there was a 
larger nursery of smaller trees on Mi*. Willta:ms' 
place. 

In May, 1809, when I first saw Cleveland city, as 
it was called even then, there were but few families 
there — Major Spafford, Major Carter, Judge Per- 
ry, Governor Huntington, and Judge Walworth, 



430 TilE FIRST PIIYSICIAK. 

I remember ; and there may, perhaps, have been one 
or two more. David Clark and Elisha Norton, 
who had lived there, had left the city. Spafford 
and Carter kept taverns. Perry had a store. 

June 17th we had a military election at the house 
of Judge Griswold, to elect an officer — I believe an 
ensign — of the company that included what is now 
Cleveland, Newburg and Euclid. It was a spirited 
contest, and it resulted in the election of Allen 
Gaylord. 

Judge Griswold was absent from home at the 
time. It was understood he was attending a session 
of Congress. His wife was there, and appeared to 
be a very accomplished woman. 

Your friend, 

John Harmon. 

1810. 

"George Wallace bought out Aivros Spafford, 
who lived and kept tavern on the Merwin lot, 
where the old 'Mansion House' recently stood, at 
the corner of Vineyard lane, and Superior street. 
Alfred Kelley, the first lawyer, and David Long, 
first doctor of the place, came here this year, both 
becoming useful and honorable members of their 
respective professions. 

" Lorenzo Carter built the schooner ' Zephyr ' of 
thirty tons, which was commanded by captain Stow. 



'The i'lRST (:otjRT. 431 

It was built on Superior lane, and launched at the 
foot of the street on the river. This was the first 
craft of vessel ^proportions built within the city. 
Elias and Harvey Murray, who were the first reg- 
ular merchants, opened a store near Williamsons on 
Water street." — [Barr. ) 

The organization of the county was perfected on 
the 1st of May, and the machinery of a county court 
put in motion, on the oth of June. On that day 
the Court of Common Pleas held its first session, 
which was in the store of Elias and Harvey Mur- 
ray, and of which, in 1855, the following notice 
appeared in a city pa23er : 

" The old house lately torn down, which stood next 
to the Forest City Block on Superior street, was the 
oldest frame building in Cleveland. It was built in 
1810 by Harvey and Elias Murray, and by them 
occupied as a store until the surrender of Hull at 
Detroit in 1812; many sick and wounded soldiers 
being brought to this place, this store was converted 
into a hospital and so used as occasion demanded 
during the war of 1812-14. Since that time it has 
been used as a store, hotel, bakery, dwelling house 
mechanics shop and other uses until now, it has 
gone, with other relics of Cleveland's early years." 

Presiding Judge. — Benjamin Ruggles. 
Associate Judges. — Nathan Perry, Sen., Augustus Gil- 
bert, Timothy Doan. 

Cleric. — John Walworth. 
Sheriff. — Smith S. Baldwin. 



432 FRONTIEK^TROUBLEfi. 

The grand jury found a l)ill for petit larceny, and 
several against persons for selling whisky to Indians, 
or selling foreign goods without license. 

Cleveland was now for the first time in full posses- 
sion of civil tribunals, civil Luv and order. Since 
the organization of Geauga comity in ISOG, their 
county seat at Chardon, was nearly as inaccessible 
as all the previous ones had l)een, but now, after 
fourteen years, the administration of justice became 
a fixed and local institution. The "respectable 
characters" referred to l)y Mr. Griswold, began to 
make their appearance. 

The year 1811 was barren of local incidents. Du- 
ring this year, the valley of the Mississippi was 
shaken by earthquakes, which extended to the 
shores of lake Erie, with diminished force. With 
these tremblings of the earth, there were ominious 
events transpiring in the Indian wigwams, along the 
frontier. The British government had never relin- 
(piished the hope of regaining the lost colonies. Jt 
liad kept possession of the lake country, fourteen 
years after our independence was an admitted fact, 
in the expectation that the Indians would extirpatt^ 
the western settlements. With British encourage- 
ment they had again become aroused, and were pre- 
paring to commence another frontier war ; when the 
United States, prefering an open enemy to a secret 
one, declared war against Great Britain. 



'vi\K w'Ait OF lsli>. 433 

1 do not propose to go into the details of what 
followed from 1812 to 1815. Cleveland became an 
important military station. A small stockade was 
built on the lake shore near the foot of Seneca street, 
called "Fort Huntington," after the recent governor, 
^vho acted as district ])aymaster during the war. It 
Avas commanded by INIajor Jessup of the U. S. Army, 
but used more as a ])lace of imprisonment for sol- 
diers under arrest, than for the defence of the post. 

Cleveland was the rendezvous of the country mili- 
tia, who entered the service as a body, following the 
example of their revolutionary fathers, leaving their 
homes and farms ; to the care of the old men, w^omen 
and children. Many good precepts are wasted and 
lost, a good example never. The patriotic conduct 
of the soldiers of 1812, was not forgotten by their 
sons of our times when they were called upon to 
take arms, against the internal foes of the nation. 

Much of what transj)ired during the war will l)e 
found in the statement of persons who witnessed 
those events, and which are here presented. 



SPAFFORD^S MAJP. 455 

MAP OF CLEVELAND IN 1814. 

This is a reduced copy of Amos Spafford's map 
of 1801, copied l\y the late Alfred Kelley, Esq. 
It was informally put upon record, and has been 
used more than any other map to determine the 
original streets and lots. Mr. Kelley put on all the 
buildings in existence in 1814, which are indicated 
in black. I have added the harbor and the various 
shore lines, together with buildings of an earlier 
date than the record of this map. The different 
positions of the shore lines are shown by the dates 
of the surveys, thus,' 1796, 1801, 1827, 1831, 1842, 
tfec. 

I — Biiildiugs in 1814. 

n — Buildiugs ofau earlier date. 

a — Fort Huntington, 1813. 

b — Trading bouse of 178(5, 

(• — Carters tirst cabin, 17!)7. 

il — .ToB P. Stiles' first cabin, 1790, 

e — Surveyors first cabin, 179(). 

./■ — Surveyors cabin on the liill, 1797. 

(J — ('emetery lot, 1797. 

/(—Jail and Court House, ]Hl:>. 

/— KiNGSBURV's first cabin, 1797. 

^- — Carter's house on the hill, 18015. 

This reputed copy of Spafford's map differs from 
the one heretofore given, and from the Pease map 
in some particulars, l)Ut has a general identity. Mai- 



den street, which is upon the Holley and Peask 
plat, is omitted from this, and Superior lane is added. 
Miami street is merged in Ohio, which here covers 
both, making a right angle in its course. Soon after 
the village corporation came into existence, in the 
year 181(3, Euclid street was laid out, from the 
square to its intersection with Huron, the Euclid 
road having been surveyed in 1797, through the ten 
acre lots. Bond, Wood and St. Clair streets, were 
laid out at the same time, also a street around the 
public square. 

STATEMENT OF SETH DOAN, 1841. 

'' Omic was a fine looking young Indian, about 
twenty-one, and was hung upon the Public S(]uare 
in this city, in the north-west corner, near where the 
old Court House and jail were then being erected. 
He was convicted of the murder of two trappers, 
BuEL and Gibbs, while they were asleej), in the 
night, near Sandusky city, for their traps and furs. 
Two other Indians, one older, the other a boy of 
fifteen were concerned with him, the older being 
taken near Carrying river, in the Maumee swamp, 
seized a musket from one of the party who arrested 
him, and putting the muzzle under his chin, pulled 
the trigger with his foot and shot himself dead. The 
boy was considered as forced into participation by 
the others and was suffered to escape, and lived to be 
the ring-leader of two others, in the murder of John 



HIS EXECUTION. 437 

Wood and Geokge Bishop, west of Carrying river 
in 1816, for whicli they were all executed in Huron 
county. The family of the murdered John Wood, 
are now, (1841) resident in this city. The skeleton 
of Omic is in possession of Dr. Isaac Town, of Hud- 
son, Portage county. 

" One of the first nurseries of apple trees in this 
vicinity was from seeds saved by me and my brother, 
Timothy, Jr., from a basket of apples brought from 
Detroit ; which we bought at two dollars. Some of 
the finest orchards in Euclid, and the neighboring 
townships have their origin from these seeds." 

EXECUTION OF O'MIC, JUNE 24th, 1812. 

BY THE HON. E. WHITTLESEY. 

I was present at the execution, and as distinctly 
recollect the facts I shall narrate, as I did the night 
of the day they occurred. I was not at the trial, but 
understood that Peter Hitchcock was assigned as 
counsel for the accused. The custody of the prisoner 
was assigned to Lorenzo Carter (there being no 
jail) because he was a man of uncommon energy, 
and because he had more influence over the Indians 
than any other man in the west, or at least in Cuya- 
lioga county. Mr. Carter's house was on the high 
ground near the bank, to the right of the road that 
descended the hill to the ferry across the river, and 
\o the left of the street that leads to where the Light 



438 THE MILITARY ON DUTY. 

House now stands. The prisoner was confined in a 
chamber of Mr. Carter's house. Strong irons were 
above his ancles, with which was connected a staple 
that was driven into a joist that supported the floor, 
so that the prisoner could not go to any window. 
Probably I should have said with more accuracy, 
that a chain was attached to the fetters, and a staple 
was attached to the other end, which was driven into 
the joist, ttc. After his conviction, O'Mic told Mr. 
Carter and Sheriff Baldwin, (who was from Dan- 
bury,) that he would let the pale faces see how an 
Indian could die ; that they need not tie his arms, 
but when the time came he would jumj) off from the 
gallows. 

Before Mr. Carter's house, in tlie direction of 
Superior street, was an open space somewhat exten- 
sive, and covered with grass. The religious exercises 
were held there. Several clergymen were present, 
and I think the sermon was delivered by the Rev. 
Mr. Darrow, of Vienna, Trumbull county. The 
military were commanded by Major Jones, a fine 
looking oflicer in full uniform, but he was in the 
condition that Captain McGuffy, of Coitsville, said 
he was when he was commanded to })erform 
an evolution by his company and could not do it. 
His explanation was, " I know Baron Steuben per- 
fectly well, but I cannot commit him to practice." 

O'Mic sat on his coffin in a wagon painted for the 
occasion. He was a fine looking young Indian, and 



MILITARY EVOLUTIONS. 439 

watched everything that occurred with much anxiety. 
The gallows w\as erected on the Public Square in 
in front of where the old Court House was erected. 
After the religious services were over, Major Jones 
endeavored to form a hollow square, so that the 
])risoner should be guarded on all sides. He rode 
backwarks and forwards with drawn sword, epaulets, 
and scabbard Hying, but he did not know what order 
to give. The wagon with O'Mic moved ahead and 
stopped; but as the Sheriff doubted whether he 
was to be aided by the military, he proceeded on- 
ward. Major Jones finally took the suggestion of 
of some one, Avho told him to ride to the head of the 
line, and double it round until the front and rear of 
the line met. Arriving at the gallows, Mr. Carter, 
the Sheriff and O'Mic ascended to the platform by a 
ladder. The arms of the prisoner were loosely pin- 
ioned. A rope was around his neck with a loop in 
the end. Another was let down through a hole in 
the top piece, on which was a hook to attach to the 
rope around the neck. The rope with the hook was 
brought over to one of the posts, and fastened to it 
near the ground. 

After some little time Mr. Carter came down, 
leaving O'Mic and Sheriff Baldwin on the platform. 
As the Sheriff* drew down the cap, O'Mic was the 
most terrified being, rational or irrational, I ever 
saw, and seizing the cap with his right hand, which 
he could reach by bending his head and inclining 



440 ISrEGOTIATIOKS UPON THE GALLOWS. 

his neck in that direction, he stepped to one of the 
posts and put his arm around it. The Sheriff 
approached him to h)ose his hohl, and for a moment 
it was doubtful whether O'Mic would not thro^v him 
to the ground. Mr. Carter ascended to the plat- 
form and a negotiation in regular diplomatic style 
was had. It was in the native tongue, as 1 under- 
stood at the time. Mr. Carter appealed to O'Mir 
to display his courage, narrating what he had said 
about showing pale faces how an Indian could die, 
but it had no effect. Finally O'Mic made a proposi- 
tion, that if Mr. Carter would give him half a pint 
of whisky he would consent to die. The whisky 
was soon on hand, in a large glass tundjler, real old 
Monongahela, for which an old settler would almost 
be willing to be hung, if he could now obtain the 
like. The glass was given to O'Mic and he drank 
the whisky, in as little time as he could have turned 
it out of the glass. Mr. Carter again came down, 
and the Sheriff' again drew down the cap and the 
same scene was re-enacted, O'Mic .expressing the 
same terror. Mr. Carter again ascended to the 
platform, and O'Mic gave him the honor of an Indian, 
in pledge that he would not longer resist the sen- 
tence of the court, if he should have another half 
pint of whisky. Mr. Carter, representing the peo- 
ple of Ohio and the dignity of the laws, thought the 
terms were reasonable, and the whisky was forth- 
poming on short order. The tumbler was not given 



THE CLOSING SCENE. 441 

to O'Mic, l)iit it was lield to his mouth, and as he 
sucked the whisky out, Sheriff Baldwin drew the 
rope that pinioned his arms more tight, and the rope 
^vas drawn down to prevent the prisoner from going 
to the post, and to prevent him from pulling off his 
cap. The platform was immediately cleared of all 
but O'Mic, who run the ends of his fingers on his 
right hand, between the rope and his neck. The 
rope that held up one end of the platform was cut, 
and the body swung in a straight line towards the 
lake, as far as the rope permitted and i-eturned, and 
after swinging forth and backward several times, 
and the weight being about to be suspended perpen- 
dicular under the center of the top of the gallows, 
the body turned in a circle and finally rested still. 

At that time a terrific storm appeared and came up 
from the north north-west with great rapidity, to 
avoid which, and it being doubtful whether the neck 
was broken, and to accomplish so necessary part of a 
hanging, the I'ope was drawn down with the design 
of raising the body, so that, by a sudden relaxing of 
the rope, the l)ody would fall several feet, and there- 
by dislocate the neck beyond any doubt, but when 
the body fell, the roj^e broke as readily as a tow 
string and fell upon the ground. The cofiin and 
grave were near the gallows and the body was 
picked up, put into the cofiin, and the cofiin immedi- 
ately put into the grave. The storm was heavy and 

all scampered but O'Mic. 
29 



442 STANTON SHOLES. 

The report was, at the time, that the surgeons at 
dusk raised the body, and when it lay on the dis- 
secting table, it was easier to restore life than to 
prevent it. Elisha Whittlesey. 

Another old settler who remembers this execution, 
has said, that the old flint lock muskets and rifles, 
which the militia escort under Major Jones carried 
that day, were so thoroughly wet, by the storm, that 
the Indians would have had no difficulty in captur- 
ing the place, if they had made the attempt. 

In 1812 when real dangers began to gather around 
the settlement, Mr. Kelley states that other officers 
were elected. The Muster Koll of the Cleveland 
company, during the war has not yet been recovered. 

FKOM A LETTER OF CAPTAIN STANTON SHOLES, 
(Aged 87.) 

Columbus, July, 1858. 
John Barr, Sec'y Cuyahoga Co., Historical Society: 

Sir : — With a trembling hand I will state to the 
Society, that about the 3d of May, 1813, I received 
orders from the War Department, to march my 
company (then at Beavertown, Pennsylvania) to 
Cleveland, Ohio, to aid in the defence of this frontier 
and to establish a military post. On the 10th, I, 
with my company, arrived at Cleveland, and found 
Major Jessup and two or three companies of militia, 
called out some months before. I halted my com- 
pany between Major Caeter's and Wallace's. I 



THE IIOSriTAL. 44o 

was here met by Goveruor Meigs, wlio gave me a 
most cordial welcome, as did all the citizens. The 
Governor took me to a place, where my company 
could pitch their tents. I found no place of defense, no 
hospital, and a forest of large timber, (mostly chest- 
nut) between the lake, and the lake road. There 
Avas a road that turned off between Mr. Perry's and 
]V[ajor Carter's that went to the point, which was 
the only place that the lake could be seen from the 
buildings. This little cluster of buildings was all of 
wood, I think none painted. There were a few 
liouses further back from the lake road. The 
^vidow Walworth kept the post office, or Ashbel, 
her son. Mr. L. Johnsox, Judge Kingsbury, Major 
Carter, N. Perry, Geo. Wallace, and a few others 
Avere there. At my arrival I found a number of sick 
and wounded who were of Hull's surrender, sent 
here from Detroit, and more coming. These were 
crowded into a log cabin, and no one to care for them. 
I sent one or two of my soldiers to take care of them, 
as they had no friends. I had two or three good 
carpenters in my company, and set them to work to 
build a hospital. I very soon got up a good one, 
thirty by twenty feet, smoothly and tightly covered, 
and floored with chestnut bark, with two tier of 
bunks around the walls, with doors and windows, 
and not a nail, a screw, or iron latch or hinge about 
the building. Its cost to the Government was a few 
extra rations. In a short time I had all the bunks 



444 FOKT HUNTINGTON. 

well strawed, and the sick and wounded good and 
clean, to their great joy and comfort, but some had 
fallen asleep. I next went to work and built a small 
fort, about fifty yards from the bank of the lake, in 
the forest. This fort finished, I set the men to fell- 
ing the timber along and near the bank of the lake, 
rolling the logs and brush near the brink of the bank, 
to serve as a breastwork. On the 19th of June, a 
part of the British fleet appeared off our harbor, with 
the apparent design to land. When they got within 
one and a half miles of our harbor it became a per- 
fect calm, and they lay there till after noon, when a 
most terrible thunder storm came up, and drove 
them from our coast. We saw them no more as ene- 
mies. Their object w^as to destroy the public or 
government boats, then built and building, in the 
Cuyahoga river, and other government stores at that 
place. About the middle of July General Harrison 
and suite paid a visit to this station. While here 
he made his head quarters at Major Carter's. His 
staff were. Col. Samuel Huntington, Paymaster of 
of the army, and ex-Governor of this State, and 
Majors George Tod and Jessup, and one or two 
more. Col. Wood, who was shortly after killed in 
battle at Fort Erie was a brave officer. General 
Harrison during his stay, took great care to scruti- 
nize everything that had been done for its defense. 
After three days stay the General and suite left 



o'mic keappears. 445 

Cleveland as lie found it, to return to the army, then 
lying at the mouth of the Maumee river. 

After General Harrison left there was nothing 
worthy of note. One thing I ought to have men- 
tioned, that the General was very kindly received 
on his arrival at this place, and not a few came 
from different parts of the country to see Wm. H. 
Harrison, commander-in-chief of the north-western 
army. Citizens and soldiers were hand in hand. 
There is a debt of gratitude I owe the then citizens of 
Cleveland, for their kindness to me and my company 
officers, the few months we were stationed among 
them. Some time in July, I was attacked with the 
fever, and as Doctor Long lived in a small house, 
about half way from Major Carter's to the point, 
near to my camp ; I stepped to the Doctor's, he Avas 
not at home, and Mrs. Long- seeing me shake, 
requested me to lie down. I Avas soon up the stairs 
stripped of my coat and boots, and fell on the bed. 
When I aAvoke and came a little to myself I smelt 
something very sickening. Turning my face to the 
wall, my face partly over the bed, I was struck 
almost senseless, by an object on the floor between 
me and the wall, my face partly over it. It Avas a 
human skeleton, every bone in its place, the flesh 
mostly gone. I gazed at these bones till I verily 
thought I Avas dead, and that they had buried me by 
the side of some one that had gone before me. I 
felt very sick which roused from my legarthy and I 



446 :mks. doctor long. 

found that I was alive, and had been sleeping along- 
side a dead man. As soon as I recalled where I was, 
I reached the lower floor in quickstep, giving Mrs. 
Long a fright, to see me come down in such haste. 
She very politely apologized for her forgetfulness. 
The season before, there had been an Indian hung for 
the murder of a white man, and I had the hick to 
sleep side by side with his frame, not fully cleaned. 
I do not remember the death of any citizen while I 
was encamped with them. 

STATEMENT OF MRS. JULIANNA LONG. 
June 14th, 1866. 

I first came to Cleveland in 1804, and stayed at 
Judge Huntington's. My father, John Walworth, 
moved to Cleveland from Painesville in April, 1806 ; 
we came up in an open boat which was wrecked, and 
my fother came near being drowned. He was so 
weak when he came out of the water that he could 
barely crawl on his hands and knees. My mother's 
name was Julianna Morgan, who AVas born at Gro- 
ton, Connecticut, Dec. 31st, 1769, and died in Cleve- 
land, March 2cl, 1853. My father died here Sept. 
10th, 1812. He was born at Groton, Connecticut, 
June 10th, 1765. 

I remember Ezekiel Hawley, of Cleveland, who 
removed to Newburg at a very early day. His wii'e 
Lucy, was a sister of Lorenzo Carter. 



THE OLD FAMILIES. 447 

When Judge Walworth came here there were 
the following families in Cleveland : Judge Hunt- 
ington, Major Spafford, David Clark, and Pierre 
Meloche, a Frenchman. 

Abram Hickox came here in 1808. His black- 
smith shop was on the north side of Superior street, 
where the Johnson House is now. 

Nathan Perry, senior, who was generally called 
Major Perry, came to Cleveland in the summer of 

1807. His son, Horace Perry, came the next 
spring, and Nathan Perry, junior, the following 
fall. Afterwards Nathan Perry, senior, removed 
to Black river, and died there, but he was buried at 
Cleveland. [He died Oct. 28th, 1813, in his fifty- 
third year.] 

Meloche left here, and returned to Detroit about 

1808, and Alexander Campbell, the trader, left 
the place in 1808 or 1809. 

Elias and Harvey Murray took Cajipbell's 
store under the hill. 

The first Postmaster was Elisha Norton, appoint- 
ed October 22d, 1805. He afterwards removed to 
Mantua, in Portage county, and my father took 
his place. Doctor David Long emigrated from 
Hebron, New York, in June, 1810, and we were 
married April 7th, 1811. 

AsiiBEL W. Walworth, my brother, was made 
deputy Postmaster Sept. 9th, 1809. 



448 AN INDIAN FRIGHT. 

When the war Ijroke out, the following tnniilies 
were in Cleveland : 

George Wallace, Harvey Murray, 

Samuel Williamson, Abram Hickox, 

Hezekiah King, Levi Johnson, 

Elias Murray, David Hickox, who called 
Richard Bailey, liiuiself Henderson, 

Amasa Bailey, Maj. Samuel Jones, 
Hiram Hanchett. 

Also without families : 

Mr. Beaver, Alfred Kelley, 

James Root, Matthew Williamson. 

Mr. Stephen King, a brother to Hezekiah Kinc;, 
died here in the winter following. Mr. Beaver 
returned to Pennsylvania. I knew John O'Mic 
and his father very well. John was not a bad 
Indian towards the whites. When we were children 
at Painesville, we used to play together on the 
T)anks of the Grand river, at my father's old resi- 
dence, which we called Bloomingdale. This Avas 
the place where Governor Huntington lived and 
died. O'Mic's father came to our house, on Water 
street, a short time before the execution. We were 
very much afraid of the Indians then. I was alone, 
and my babe, (Mrs. Severance,) was sleeping in 
the cradle. He took up a gun which A\'as in the 
room, in order to show me how Semo killed himself, 
after he had been arrested. I thought he was going 
to kill me or my baby, in revenge for his son. I 



tiEStJRliECTioisr OF o'mic. 440 

seized the child and rau up Water street towards 
]\Ir. Williamson's, screaming pretty hard, I suppose. 
O'Mic followed after me, trying to ex23laiii what he 
meant. Mr. Williamson" caught the child, and we 
all went to Major Carter's house, which was on the 
corner of Superior street and Union lane. Major 
Carter had a short talk with O'Mic, who explained 
what he meant, and we all had a hearty laugh. 
O'Mic had lived near Painesville. I was in the 
crowd on the square when O'Mic was to be hung, 
and I suddenly thought, " why should I wish to see 
my old play-fellow die ? " I got out of the crowd as 
quick as possible and went home. All the people 
from the Western Reserve seemed to be there, j^artic- 
ularly the doctors. I remember several of them who 
stayed at our house. Among them was Dr. Allen, 
who recently died at Trumbull county. Dr. Coleman, 
of Ashtabula count}", Dr. Johnson, of Conneaut, and 
Dr. Hawley, of Austintown. When O'Mic was 
swung off the rope broke, and they were not sure 
that he was dead, but tljere was a storm coming on 
and he was hurried into the grave near the gallows. 
The Public Square was only partly cleared then, 
and had many stumps and bushes on it. At night 
the doctors went for the T)ody, with the tacit con- 
sent of the Sheriff. O'Mic was about twenty-one 
years of age, and was very fat and heavy. Dr. Long 
did not think one man could carry him, but Dr. 
Allen, who was very stout, thought he could. He 



450 DEATH OF MRS. LONG. 

was put ujDon Dr. Allen's back, who soon fell over 
a stump and O'Mic on the top of him. The doctors 
dare not laugh aloud, for fear they might be discov- 
ered, but some of them were obliged to lie down on 
the ground and roll around there, before they came 
to the relief of Dr. Allen." 

On the 3d of July, 1866, the following announce- 
ment was made in the public prints of Cleveland : 
"Died, on the 2d inst., at her late residence, 394 
Kinsman street, Mrs. Julianna Lono, widow of the 
late Dr. David Long, aged 71 years, 9 months." 

In a letter of the late Hon. Alfred Kelley, speak- 
ing of the panic caused by Hull's surrender, he 
makes the following statement : 

" Information was received at Cleveland, through 
a scout from Huron, that a large number of British 
troops and Indians were seen from the shore, in 
boats, proceeding down the lake, and that they 
would probably reach Cleveland in the course of 
the ensuing night. This information spread rapidly 
through the surrounding settlements. A large pro- 
portion of the families in Cleveland, Newburg, 
(then part of Cleveland,) and Euclid, immediately 
on the receipt of this news, took such necessary 
articles of food, clothing and utensils as they could 
carry, and started for the more populous and less 
exposed parts of the interior. About thirty men 
only remained, determined to meet the enemy if they 
should come, and, if possible, prevent their landing. 



.lOIIX WALWORTH. 45l 

They determined at least to do all in tlieir power to 
allay tlie panic, and prevent tlie depopulation of the 
country." 

" Several ladies of Cleveland, among whom were 
Mrs. Geoege Wallace, Mrs. Johis^ Walworth and 
Mrs. Dr. Long, resolved not to desert their husbands 
and friends. When Mrs. Long was told that she 
could not tight or forcibly oppose the enemy, she 
replied that she ' could nurse the sick or wounded — 
encourage and comfort those who could fight ; at any 
rate she would not, by her example, encourage dis- 
graceful flight.' " 

JOHN WALWORTH. 

John Walworth, though not among the earliest, 
was one of the most prominent settlers of the West- 
ern Reser^'e. He came from Aurora, New York, 
near Cayuga lake, to Mentor in 1799, and remaining 
there through the winter returned to New York in 
the spring for his family. Walworth was born in 
1705 at Groton, New London Co., Connecticut. Like 
most young men who lived near salt water, he spent 
several years at sea, and visited the South American 
States. He came to settle at Cayuga lake in 1792. 
They reached their new home at Painesville on the 
8th of April, 1800. He was small in stature, of 
very active habits, and had a pleasing countenance. 
There is in the family a paper-cut profile of his face, 



452 PUBLIC TRUSTS. 

tlie lower part of wliicli lias an excellent expression, 
indicating kindness, coupled with intelligence. The 
upper part of the profile is concealed by the hair, 
which is brou2:ht down over the forehead accordina^ 
to the fashion, seventy years since. Mr. Walworth 
could not have been selected to fill so many offices, 
in the organization of the new government, if he had 
not been worthy of them. In those days profes- 
sional office hunters, seldom became the successful 
candidates. Men were selected because they were 
(pialified, not l^ecause they were anxious to obtain 
places. 

A portion of the appointments he was called upon 
to accept have already been given. He was commis- 
sioned by Arthur St. Clair, territorial Governor of 
Ohio, as Justice of the Peace for Trumbull county, 
July 4th, 1802; as an Associate Judge by Governor 
Tiffin, April 14th, 1803; as Postmaster at Paines- 
ville, Nov. 14th, 1804; Inspector of the Port of Cuy- 
ahoga, by Tiio^rAS Jefferson, June 12th, 1805 ; 
Collector of the district of Erie, July l7th, 1806; 
Associate Judge of Geauga county, Jan. 23d, 1806 ; 
Postmaster at Cleveland, May — , 1806, When the 
county of Cuyahoga was organized he l)ecame 
County Clerk and Recorder. 

It was no small part of Mr. Walworth's good 
fortune, that he had a wife well suited to the circum- 
stances, l)y which they Avere surrounded. Miss 
Julianna Morgan was born at Groton, Connecticut, 



MRS. WALWORTH. 453 

December 31st, 1709. She was therefore at the 
mature age of thirty-one years, when they encoun- 
tered the trials of pioneer life at the extreme west. 
Their previous residence at Aurora, New York, was 
not far from the verge of civilization, but this was a 
movement three hundred miles further into the 
western wilds. 

Mrs. Walworth is remembered as a kind, disfni- 
fied, judicious woman, spoken of with respect and 
kindness, by all those who shared her society or her 
hospitality. 

When the stampede occurred at Cleveland, on the 
occasion of Hull's surrender, she was one of the 
three ladies who refused to leave the place. She 
rode a horse, not merely as a graceful exercise, but 
took long journeys in company with her husband. 
In 1810 she crossed the mountains in this manner, 
by way of Pittsburg and Philadelphia, to the eastern 
States. 

With such training, a vigorous physique, and a 
cheerful disposition, it is not strange that she sur- 
vived three generations ; long enough to witness the 
results of her husbands expectations. She died at 
Cleveland, March 2d, 1853. 

There were three sons, John Periandek, now 
living, Horace, who died recently in Louisiana, and 
AsHBEL W., who succeeded his father as Collector? 
dying at Cleveland, Aug. 24th, 1844, at the age of 



454 THE FIRST SETTLERS. 

fifty-four years. The daughters were Mrs. Dr. Long 
and Mrs. Dr. Strickland. 

Mr. Walworth did not live to realize the brilliant 
hopes he had formed of this city and county. He 
died in the dark days of the war, on the 10th of 
September, 1812. Had he survived another year he 
would have heard on that day, the boom of Perry's 
victorious o-uns. But the character of such men has 
an influence beyond the grave. Their characteristics 
are impressed upon new communities, long after they 
are personally forgotten. 



RECORD OF THE EARLY SETTLERS. 
1796. 

Job P. Stiles and Tabitha Cumi Stiles, his wife ; 
Edward Paine. ,. 

1797. 

Lorenzo Carter and Rebecca Carter, ( ne ^Vikin ; ) 
Alonzo, Henry, Laura, ( Mrs. Stong, ) Mercy, ( Mrs. 
Abell, ) and Betsey, ( Mrs. Cathan, ) their children ; 
Miss Chloe Inches, ( Mrs. Clement ; ) James Kings- 
bury and Eunice Kingsbury, (ne Waldo,) with 
three children, Amos S., Almon, and Abigail, ( Mrs. 
Sherman ;) Ezekiel Hawley and Lucy Hawley, (ne 
Carter,) and one child; Elijah Gun and Anna Gun, 
and one child ; Pierre Meloche ; Peleg AVashburne, 
who died the same season. 



EARLY SETTLERS. 455 

1798. 

Nathaniel Doan and Mary Doan, (ne Carey,) Job, 
and three daughters, afterwards Mrs. R. H. Blin, 
Mrs. Eddy, and Mrs. Baldwin; Samuel Dodge, 
Rodolphus Edwards, Nathan Chapman, Stephen 
Gilbert, Joseph Landon. 

1799. 
Richard H. Blin, William Wheeler Williams, Mr. 
Gallup, Major Wyatt. 

1800. 

Amos Spafford wife and family, Alexander Camp- 
bell, David Clark and wife, Mason, Martin, James, 
Margaret and Lucy, their children, David Bryant, 
Gilman Bryant and Samuel Jones. 

1801. 

Samuel Huntington and wife, Miss Margaret Cobb, 
Julius C. and Colburn, sons of Mr. Huntington, Tim- 
othy Doan and Polly Doan, Timothy, Jr., Seth, John, 
Deborah, (Mrs. Crocker,) Mrs. Samuel Dodge, and 
Mrs. Bronson, their children; Elisha Norton and 
family. 



456 POPULATION. 

INCREASE OF POPULATION. 

1796, 4 

1797, 15 

1800, 7 

1810,..-, 57 

1820, about 150 

1825, ahout 500 

1830, U. S. Census, _- . 1,075 

1832, about 1,500 

1833, " 1,900 

1834, City Census, 3,323 

1835, " " 5,080 

1840, U.S. Census, 6,071 Ohio Chy 1,577 7,648 

1845, City '' 9,573 " " -__-2,462 12,035 

1846, '^ " 10,135 

1850, U. S. " 17,034 Ohio CMty ab'l 3,!>50 20,984 

1851, City •' 21,140 

1852, '' •' 25,670 

1860, U. S. " 43,838 two cities uiiiled. 

1866, City " 67,500 

Some useful deduetious may T)e thawn from these 
figures, in regard to the future population of tliis eity. 
AVe lia^e here tlie number of people on both sides of 
the river since 1840 with a reasonable a})proach to 
aceiu'aev. The rate of increase in live years, from 
1840 to 1845, is 58 per cent., from 1845 to 1850 is 74 
per cent., 1850 to 1800, ten years, by the government 
census 100 per cent., and from 1860 to 1866, six- 
years, 76 per cent. Our present numbers, January, 

1867, are computed at 70,000. 

From 1840 to 1850 the increase exceeded 10 })er 
cent, per annum, compounded annually. On the 



COLLKCroKS (»K (UTSTOMS. 457 

east side, in the two succeeding yeui's it leiiclied LM 
and 24 per cent, per annum. 

The best ascertained average iiu-rensc of tiie five 
year periods, for the past twenty-five years, is nearly 
(>2 per cent. At this rate the census of 1870 should 
give ahout 1()(),0()0, of 1875, 102,00(1, and of 1880, 
262,000. 

(X)LLEaTORS AT C'J.EVELAND, 

John Walworth, January ITth, ISOfi; died in olfice, Sep- 
tember 10, 1812, 
AsiiBEL W, Walwoutii, 1812 ; removed 182!). 
Samuel Starkweather, 1S29; resigned ISIO. 
George B, Merwin, 1840. 
William Milford, 1841, 
Smith Inglehart, 1845. 
C, L. Eussell, 1849. 

Robert Parks, 1853; died in office August oOth, ISCO. 
B. Brownell, 18G0, 
C!iiARLES L. Ballard, April 1861, 
John C. Grannis, April, 1865, 

EARLY LAKE CRAFT. 

1079 — Schooner Griffin, (French,) ])iult at Cayuga 
creek, near Tonawanda. 

1701-3 — The Schooner Gladwyn, (British,) and a 
French vessel Lurnt on the Nia«:ara river. 

1785-6 — Schooners Beaver and Mackinaw, belong- 
ing to the North West Fur Company, 
30 



458 EARLY LAKE CRAFT. 

A vague tradition of a shipwreck wliicli occurred 
near the mouth of the Cuyahoga has long been 
current here. 

It was probably one of the above named vessels 
which was lost. While the Moravians were at 
Pilgerruh, Captain Thorn, who commanded the 
schooner, speaks of visiting them and procuring 
provisions, where he saw for the first time the 
kittens of a wild cat. There was at the same 
time a ti'ader at Rocky river. Mr. Carter saw 
the wreck of the schooner in his boyhood, 1797-8. 
Captain Gaylord, who came to Cleveland in ISOO 
knew Capt. Thorn very well, and often had from 
him the details, of the lonely winter he passed 
here after the shipwreck. It occurred late in the 
fall or early in winter, probably in December. The 
name of the vessel has been lost. According to 
Capt. Gaylord's recollection, she was in company 
with another schooner, both of which were seeking 
for the mouth of the Cuyahoga, perhaps as a shelter 
from the coming storm. They were on their way 
up the lake with supplies for the British garrisons. 
Capt. Thorn's vessel had on board some brass pieces 
for the Fort at Detroit, but the number of the guns 
is not well known, different accounts varying from 
one to three. 

It was near night when they were enveloped in a 
snow storm, and were close in with the land. In 
he darkness of the night, driven by a furi ous winter 



CAl'T. TJIOKn's SIIIPWRKCK. 455) 

storm, Capt. Tiiokn's vessel soon came ashore, not 
^ar from Johnson's run, which enters the lake near 
the Marine Hospital. The crew got safely ashore, 
and concluded to pass the winter on the spot. They 
built a cabin on the bank, near the corner of Clinton 
and Wilson streets, the remains of which were there 
in 1800 and in subsequent years. The guns were 
taken from the hold, and carried j^artly up the bank, 
^vrapped in a sail, well greased, securely plugged, 
and l)uried beneath a leaning tree on one of the 
benches, or slips, of the shore. 

When the first settlers came here, and even as late 
as 1830, there were evidences of the clearing which 
Captain Thoen made around this cabin, in old 
stumps and in the second growth of timljer. Capt. 
Lorenzo Cakteu, father of Alonzo, procured from 
the wreck, in the year 1807, the irons for the rudder 
of his new schooner the Zephyr. 

Capt. Levi Johnson' says he prociu'ed spikes and 
Ijolts for one of his first vessels from the same place. 
A piece of iron from Capt. Thorn's schooner is still 
to l)e seen forming the hinges, of Mr. Carter's gate 
at his homestead at Newburg. 

The guns were frequently sought after l)y the 
early settlers, but no trace of them has yet l)een 
found. No doubt the encroachment of the lake has 
left them long since beneath its waters, deep sunk in 
the quicksands of this shore. 

Captain Thorn was a Canadian, avIio in the war 



4(30 LAKE CRAFT f'ONTINUED. 

of 1812, took part with us, mid afterwards lived to 
"be a very old man at Point au Chene, on the St. 
Clair Eiver, not far above lake St. Clair. 

1796 — Two British armed vessels. 

1797 — Schooner of sixty tons, Erie Pa., called the 
Washington. Cleared from Cuyahoga in the spring 
of 1806 and was never heard of afterwards. 

1800 — Schooner Harlequin, of Erie, lost in Octo- 
ber of the same year, and twenty persons, being all 
who were on board of her. Also the schooner Good 
Intent, 50 tons, which was lost oft* Point Abino in 
1806. 

1801 — Schooner Adams, 150 tons, United States 
vessel built at Eiver Kouge, near Detroit. Also the 
Tracy, of 70 tons, U. S. transport, wrecked on Bird 
Island reef, 1809. 

Schooner Wilkinson, 80 tons, Detroit. 

1804 — .Contractor, sloop, 50 tons. Black Eock, 
purchased by the United States in 1812 ; took part 
in the battle of Lake Erie under the name of the 
Trip. Cuyahoga Packet, sloop, 20 tons, Chagrin 
river. Schooner Lark, 20 tons. Grand river, Canada. 

1805 — A Government sloop of 60 tons, Cayuga 
creek, where the Griffin was built in 1679. Eanger, 
of 50 tons, St. Clair river. 

1807 — Schooner Mary, 120 tons, burnt by General 
Proctor in the Thames, 1813. 

1808 — Zephyr, Cleveland, burnt at Conjocketa 
creek, near Black rock. 



PIONEER IIIVER MEN. 461 

1809 — Schooner Catharine, 80 tons, Black Rock. 
In Perry's battle, 1813, as the Soniers. Charlotte, 
schooner, 90 tons, hnilt some years previous; cap- 
tured at Mackinaw, 1812, as the Salina. Became 
ice locked among the islands in the winter of 1812- 
13, and floating down opposite Erie, was stripped 
and burned. 

1810 — Schooner Ohio, 60 tons, Cleveland ; became 
a part of Perry's fleet. 

EARLY EIVER MEN. 

As early as 1 749 the Cuyahoga was regarded ])y 
geographers a 2:)oint destined to l)e of commercial 
importance. [Douglass's summary.] Franklin 
pointed to its future value in 1 705, recommending 
that it 1)6 occuj^ied for militaiy purposes. Wasl'- 
iNGTON foresaw its consequence, while discussino- a 
project for water communications between the lakes 
and Chesapeake Bay. 

Pownall and Evans only knew of five rivers on 
the south shore of lake Erie, but they had the sagac- 
ity to discuss the project of a canal, allowing batteaux 
to pass into the waters of the Shenango and Maho- 
ning from "Cherage," (Conneaut) and from the 
Cuyahoga river. — [Pownall's account, 1750. | 

It was this idea which Franklin and Washington 
enlarged upon, as the mode, and the route, of the 
future inland commerce of the west. Batteaux once 
transferred, from the waters of lake Erie to those of 



4(>L^ riiK viKsr vokwakokk^. 

the Ohio, wei"e to be foived up its upper branches as 
tar as possible into the mountains, and ]U"operty thus 
transferred to the Atlantic rivers. 

When the State of Xew York, began to agitate tlie 
plan of a rival route by way of Oswego I'iver and the 
Mohawk, ill 170o-4. the discussions of Pownaii., 
Franklin, and AVasiiixoton were i-enewed. 

But we know of no ]>ermanent occupation for the 
usual purposes of trade, prior to 17S0: when the 
British, although in a state of quasi war, drew their 
supplies fivni the Uniteil States. Their j^osts held 
on our own soil, in violation of the treaty of 1783, 
obtained provisions from Pennsylvania thivugh this 
]>lace. — I HiT.T.>[Ax's letter.] 

From 1700 to this time, the French and British 
tradei^s in furs were probably here, as there was no 
part of tlie country they did not penetrate. From 
1 78G to 1 7iK-\ llour and beef weiv furnished to the 
military posts on the lakes, British and American, 
by way of F]rie and Cleveland. Dixoax iC' AVii.sox 
of Pittsburg, were the tirst forwarders who did busi- 
ness here, packing tlour in bags tipoif hoi'ses, ah">ng 
the time-worn trjiils of the Indians. 

When Gen. Waynk overcame the north-western 
tribes at the Maumee i-apids, in 1704, the enterpris- 
ing merchants of Pittsburg and Beaver, contracted 
to furnish supplies on the 3[aumee, by way of the 
Cuyahoga. The old Indian highway from Beaver to 
this placv, became a notable thoivughfare along 



wliic'li ninety liorsi^s and thirty men, were continually 
j)assing. From this ])lace goods and ])rovisions were 
taken, sometimes in vessels or in batteaux, to the 
Maumee or Detroit, and sometimes through by land 
on horses. 

The commercial importance of the mouth of the 
Cuyahoga was thus foresliadowed from the earliest 
days. It was on a nearer route from the valley of 
the Monongahela and the Potomac to the head of 
lak{^ Erie, than the one by the Allegheny river and 
Presque Isle or Erie. The Muskingum and the Cuy- 
alioga came so near together at Akron, that a portage 
of only seven miles was to be made witli a light 
canoe, and then an almost interminalde navigation 
might l)e pursued in all directions. These great 
natural routes being known to the early geographers 
and statesmen, led them to think of improvements 
here, and to predict great things for the future. 

When the city was laid out, its future business 
was ])rovided for by the landings intended foi* bat- 
teaux, by whicli it was expected the princij)al trans- 
portation would be effected. The "upper landing," 
at the foot of Vineyard lane, was for the u]) liver 
business, and the "lower landing," where Mandrake 
and Union streets came to the river, now St. Clair 
street, was for the lake trade. (General Cleaveland 
and the surveyors well knew that large vessels could 
not enter the river. Until 1827, when a har>)or 
was constructed by the General (xovernment, lake 



464 SCHOONER ZEPHYR. 

craft of all sizes worthy the name of a vessel, came 
to anchor outside and were unloaded by lighters. 
Lorenzo Carter engrossed most of this business in 
the early days of the settlement. In 1805 the mouth 
of the Cuyahoga was made a port of entry. Most of 
the traffic, prior to this time, was made in open boats, 
coasting along the shore. The surveyors' old cabin. 
Carter's log shanty, and Campbell's store, afforded 
more than warehouse room enough for the business. 
Those staunch, well-built batteaux, appear to have 
been capable of weathering the terrific gales of the 
lakes as bravely, as the sloops, schooners and steam- 
ers of later times. Accidents were no more common 
than they are now. The scheme for improving the 
Cuyahoga by means of a lottery, got up in 1807 has 
already been noticed. With all its disadvantages, 
this route crossing by land to the Tuscarawas and to 
the Mahoning, down those rivers, up the Ohio and 
its branches to the Potomac, and down it to the 
ocean, was thought to be a competitor with the one 
by way of Niagara, Oswego, Fort Stanwix and the 
Mohawk. 

In 1808, Mr. Carter built the " Zephyr," of 30 
tons, intended particularly for the trade of this place. 
Salt, iron, leather, groceries and dry goods were the 
principal needs of the settlers, in return for which 
they collected furs and made grindstones, to be sent 
east in payment. Murray tSz Bixby built the Ohio, 
of 60 tons, in 1810, which was launched near the 



caeter's avarehouse. 465 

warehouse of Pettit c^ Holland. About this time 
Carter built a log warehouse on the bank of the 
lake between Meadow and Spring streets, where he 
received and discharged pro23erty until after the war 
of 1812, when it was undermined by a rise in the 
waters of the lake. The brothers Elias and Harvey 
Murray erected another in 1811, which stood within 
the point on the river bank, wdiere the new channel 
or harbor is now. Not far from this time, some per- 
son not yet identified, built a small log house for 
storage on the east bank, a short distance south of 
Superior street. Levi Johnson built the Pilot in 
1813. About the year 1816 the first frame ware- 
house was built by Leonard Case and Capt. Wil- 
LiA]\i Gaylord. It stood a little north of St. Clair 
street, on the river. In 1817 or 1818 Levi Johnson 
and Dr. David Long j)ut up another, a short distance 
lower on this shore, northward of Case &, Gtaylord, 
and soon after a third was erected near them by 
John Blair. Of these early and enterprising for- 
warders, Johnson and Blair still survive. From 
Blairs warehouse down the river, to the point of 
ground on which the Murray's built, was then an 
impassal)le marsh. Alonzo Carter purchased land 
on the West Side, soon after the township of Brook- 
lyn came into market. He built a tavern and a 
small warehouse on that side, opposite Superior 
street. The ferry crossed at this street which was 
kept by Christopher Gun* 



466 CLEVELAND PIER COMPANY. 

Ill 1816 au attem]:)t was made to l)iiild a pier on 
the open lake. For this purpose an act of incorpo- 
ration was procured and an association formed under 
the name and style of the " Cleveland Pier Com- 
pany," as follows : 

We, the undersigned, hereby covenant and agree 
to associate and form ourselves into a company, to 
be known and distinguished by the name and title 
of the " Cleveland Pier Company," for the purpose 
of erecting a ])ier at, or near the village of Cleveland, 
for the accommodation of vessels navigating lake 
Erie. Agreeable to an act of the Legislature of the 
of the State of Ohio, passed at their session in 1815 
-16, authorizing the incorporating of a company for 
the aforesaid purposes. 

Alonzo Carter, George AVallace, 

A. W. Walworth, Darius E. Henderson, 

David Long, Sam'l Williamson, Sen., 

Alfred Kelley, Irad Kelley, 

Datus Kelley, James Kingsbury, 

EbenHosmer, Horace Perry, 

Daniel Kelley, Levi Johnson. 

Something was done towards this ])ier, principally 
by Mr. Kelley. These slight works, based upon 
rpiicksand, and constructed without the aid of pile 
drivers, withstood the fury of the lake storms l)ut a 
short time. About this time the late Chas. M. Gid- 
DiNGS became an importer of salt, fi-om his home at 
Onondaga to the western lakes. After a few years 
he became a citizen of Cleveland, where he pursued 



'I'HK FIKST OATSAL BOAT. 407 

a business career of surprising activity, so long as his 
liealtli allowed hiin to participate in business. 

In February, 18U), Noble H. Meiiwin, with his 
family, arrived at Cleveland, direct from Connecticut 
He purchasedt he tavern stand of Geoege Wallace, 
on the corner of Superior street and Vineyard lane, 
and a tract between Suj)erior and Vineyard lanes, 
extending to Division street, now Center street. He 
occupied his hotel, afterwards known as the " Man- 
sion House," but liecame extensively interested in 
vessel stock, transportation, army contracts, and coul 
mercial business generally. A log warehouse had 
been erected on his property, near the foot of Supe- 
rior street, which he continued to occupy for the 
])urpose of storage and forwarding. When the 
Ohio canal was made navigable to Akron, the two 
lower locks were incomplete. Mr. Merwin" had the 
canal packet " Pioneer," brought from Buffalo, and 
taking her up the river, near where the stone mills 
are now, hauled her up the bank into the canal. On 
this boat the Cleveland party went to meet (iov, 
Tpjmble, and the party from Akron, consisting of 
the Canal Commissioners and other celebrities on 
the l)oat " Allen Trimble." Mr. Mekwin died at St. 
Thomas, West Indies, in October, 1829, leaving his 
first purchase unimpaired to his heirs. 

The site of the old log warehouse has became tra- 
ditional in the commerce of Cleveland. Gidings tk 
Meiiwin, Gidings Sl Baldwin, Gidings, Baldwin tt 



468 PENNSYLVANIA WAGONS. 

Pease, and Griffith, Pease Sl Co., were firms whose 
names appeared successively upon tlie sides of the 
warehouses located there. A fire which occurred 
about 1854: destroyed the entire row of buildings 
from Superior street to the canal. 

In 1819, John Blair became a river man, compet- 
ing with GiDiNGS c% Merwin, in the purchase of 
wheat. 

In those days wheat, pork. Hour, potash, and in 
fact, all the merchantable produce of the country 
was brought in by four or six horse teams, laboring 
slowly onward, through roads that would no^v l^e 
regarded impassible, the owners encamping by the 
road side, wherever night found them. When the 
Ohio Canal was projected our citizens, and ^^tarticu- 
larly the produce dealers, indulged in the gloomiest 
antici2:)ations. No more Pennsylvania teams with 
their sturdy horses, and covered wagons, would 
enliven the streets of Cleveland. If Painesville, 
Black River or Sandusky wanted a canal, they were 
welcome to it. 

Mr. Blair and Levi Johnson are the only survi- 
vors of those early forwarders, who viewed the ap- 
proach of a Conestoga wagon with so much interest. 
When experience had shown that the canal did not 
prove to be the ruin of the place, they turned their 
enterprise into new channels. The General Govern- 
ment constructed a harbor while the State was 
excavating the canal. Sail vessels, steamboats and 



CLEVELAND AS A VILLAGE. 469 

canal boats, became more plenty than the wagons 
had ever been. A race of active young men suc- 
ceeded the pioneers on the dock. Such of the original 
members of the Land Company as survived, at last 
witnessed in the decline of life, the success of the 
projects of their youth. 

PKESIDENTS OF THE VILLAGE OF CLEVELAND. 

Under the charter incorporating the village of 
Cleveland, dated December 23d, 1814, the first elec- 
tion took place on the first Monday in June, 1815. 
There were twelve votes cast at this election, which 
were given unanimously for the following oflicers : 

President — Alfred Kelley. 
Recorder — Horace Perry. 
Treasurer — Alonzo Carter. 
Marshal — John A. Ackley. 
Assessors — George Wallace and John Riddle. 
Trustees — Sam'l Williamson, David Long and Nathan 
Perry, junior. 

On the 19th of March, 1816, Alfred Kelley 
resigned his position as President of the corporation, 
and his father, Daniel Kelley, was appointed in his 
place. At the annual election, on the first Monday 
in June, 1816, Daniel Kelley was elected President 
by the unanimous voice of twelve voters, and was 
continued in the oflice through the years 1817, 1818, 
and 1819. 

The names of those who participated in this elec- 
tion were as follows : 



470 VILLAGE ADMINISTRATIO]S'. 

A. W. Walworth, Irad Kelley, 

Thomas Kummage, George Wallace, 

Alonzo Carter, Samuel Williamso>, 

Levi Johnson, . D. C. Henderson, 
S. A. Ackley, Amasa A. Bailey, 

George Pease, Daniel Kelley. 

Tlie total assessed value of real estate within the 
city ill 181G, wliicli includes the entire plat surveyed 
1796, was $21,005. At the election in the year 1820 
Horace Pekky was made President, and Kkuben 
Wood, Recorder, who rose to the Presidency in the 
following year. 

From the year 1821 to 1825, Lkonakd Cask was 
regularly elected President of the corporation, but 
neglecting to qualify in the latter year, the Recorder, 
E, Wateumax, became President, ex-officio. Here 
the records are defective until the year 1828, Avhen 
it appears Mr. Waterman received the doulde office 
of President and Recorder. On account of ill health 
he resigned, and on the 30th day of May the trustees 
appointed Oikson Cathan, President, and I). II. 
Beardsley, Recorder. At the annual election, June, 
1829, Dr. David Long was elected President, and a 
fire engine w'as purchased. Forty-eight votes were 
cast at this election. For the years 1830 and 1831, 
President, Richard Hilliard. For the years 1832, 
1833, 1834 iind 1835, John W. Allen; at this last 
election there were one hundred and six votes cast. 



POST OFFICE. 471 

POSTMASTERS AT CLEVELAND. 

Elisha Norton, October 2d, 1805. 

John Walworth, May, 1806. Died in office, September 
10th, 1812. 
AsHBEL W. Walworth, 1812. Resigned, 1816. 
Daniel Kelley, 1816. Resigned same year. 
Irad Kelley, 1816. Removed, 1830. 
Daniel Worley, 1830. Resigned, May, 1840. 
Aaron Barker, May, 1840, to October 1841. 
Benjamin Andrews, October, 1841, to April, 1845. 
Timothy P. Spencer, April, 1845, to 1849. 
Dan. M. Haskell, 1849. 
J. W. Gray, 1853. 
Benjamin Harrington, 1857. 
E. Cowles, 1861. 
Geo. a. Benedict, 1865. 

LOCATION OF POST OFFICE. 

Judge Walworth at first occupied tlie upper part 
of a frame building ou the north side of Superior 
street, near Water street. When his family moved 
from this building, to their house on the Walworth 
farm, Pittsburg street; a small frame office was 
erected south of Superior street, where the American 
house now stands. During Judge Walworth's life, 
this office contained the combined authority of the, 
city, the county, and the federal governments. 

Mr. Kelley states that in 1810, Mr. Walworth was 
Recorder, Clerk of the Common Pleas and Supreme 
Court; Postmaster and Collector of the Cuyahoga 
district. The same office accommodated Mr. Kelley, 



472 LOCATION OK THE POST OFFICE. 

the only attorney in the place, and Dr. Long, the 
only physician. During the first quarter of 180G 
the receipts at the post office amounted to two dollars 
and eiglity-tliree cents. 

Probably the post office remained at the same place 
while AsiiBEL W. Walworth was Postmaster. 
When Irad Kelley succeeded to that place it was 
removed to his brick store, on the south side of Su])e- 
rior street, opposite Bank street. The receipts for a 
year were about five hundred dollars, of which one- 
fourth belonged to the Postmaster, as compensation, 
which included rent, fuel and clerk hire. All letters 
written by the Postmaster could be franked by him, 
which, to a man of business was of more value than his 
per centage on receipts. The postage in those days 
was never less than five cents, and for distances ex- 
ceeding three hundred miles, it was twenty-five cents. 

Under Postmaster Worley, the delivery office was 
removed to the north side of Superior street, at Mil- 
lers block, between Seneca and Bank streets, and 
afterwards to a store where tlie Johnson House is 
now, the rear of which was occupied as the Custom 
House. Mr. Haskell removed it to the Herald 
buildinir, on Bank street. When Mr. Gray received 
the appointment, the office was transferred to his 
building on Waters treet, west side, near St. Clair. 

While Mr. HarrinctTon was postmaster the gov- 
ernment building on the Puldic Square was com- 
pleted, and thus the place of delivery became fixed. 



COURT iiottsp:?. 473 

THE FIRST COURT HOUSE. 

While O'MiG was dangling upon the gallows on the 
north west quarter of the Public S(|uare, the assem- 
bled multitude sat upon the timbers, which Levi 
Johnson had collected for the erection of a Court 
House. It was of the composite order. The lower 
story was divided in two parts, one of which was the 
jail, and the other the residence of the jailer. The 
apartment designed for criminals, was constructed of 
l)locks of square timber three feet long, placed end- 
wise and bolted together. Over all, in the second 
story, was a Court room, equal in size to the ground 
plan of the building, the position of which is given 
on the map of 1814. Mr. E. Wateeman officiated 
as jailer, President of the village corporation, and 
Recorder. 

In 1828 the citizens became al)le, and spirited 
enough to have a new Court House, and a separate 

jail. 

It was a fine building for those times, of which a 

faithful sketch l)y Professor BiiAiNERD is given on 
the next page. 

It stood upon the south-west quarter of the Square, 
facing towards the lake. Here justice was adminis- 
tered thirty years, until it became wholly insufficient 
for want of room, and unsafe for the public records. 
The present edifice for the Courts, and other public 
offices, Avas erected in 1858. II. L. Noble, one of 

our early and honest mechanics, had the contract for 
31 



474 



THE SECOND COURT HOUSE. 




building the brick Court House represented above. 
When it was taken down it was found to be sound 
and good as new, and except in the exposed wood 
work, was capable of enduring at least another cen- 
tury. The old stone jail, oftener called the " Blue 
Jug," stood opposite the Court House, on the south, 
fronting the Sc^uare. Of these twin institutions, 
where an entire generation received the administra- 
tion of justice, where so niapy judges sat, and lawyers 
labored; where sheriff 's and bailiff's executed the 
decisions of the courts, or the findings of juries, upon 
troops of unlucky culprits, not a relic now remains. 
In WiiELPLYS views of Cleveland, the old Court 
House is a conspicuous object. But for these picto- 
rial representations, the next generation would have 



CLEVELAND, WEST SIDE. 4^5 

lost all traces, of what constituted the public build- 
ings of the county, during the active life of the 
present. 

OHIO CITY. 

On the west side of the river, opposite St. Clair 
street, where the Indians had a ferry, a trail led out 
across the marshy ground, up the hill past the old 
log trading house, where there w^ere springs of water, 
to an opening in the forest, near the crossing of 
Pearl and Detroit streets. In this pleasant sj^ace 
the savages practised their games, held their pow 
wows, and when wdiisky could l)e procured, enjoyed 
themselves while it lasted. The trail continued 
thence westerly to Kocky Kiver and Sandusky. 
Another one, less frequented, led oif southerly up 
the river to the old French trading post, ^vhere 
Magexis was found in 1786, near Brighton; and 
thence, near the river bank, to Tinkers creek, and 
probably to the old Portage path. A less fre- 
quented trail, existed from the Indian villages of 
Tawas or Ottawas and Mingoes, at Tinkers creek, 
by a shorter route, direct to the crossing of the 
Cuyahoga at the "Standing Stone," near Kent. 
The packhorsemen, who transported goods and flour 
to the northwest from 1786 to 1795, followed this 
trail, crossing the Cuyahoga at Tinkers creek. 

Samuel P. Lord drew a considerable part of the 
township of Brooklyn, whose son, the late Rioiiakd 



470 OHIO CITY INCOKPORATED. 

Loud, and the late Josiaii Barber, became very 
early, if not the earliest settlers. The Carters, 
father and son, purchased the land at the month of 
tlie river, on the west side soon after the survey. 
Alonzo occupied this tract, living and keeping 
tavern in the " Red House," opposite Superior lane. 
In 1881 the s])irit of speculation crossed the river. 
Lots on the west side began to command high 
prices. The Buffixlo Company purchased the Car- 
ter farm, where a rival city was expected to arise, 
covering the low ground with warehouses, and the 
Iduffs with stores and residences. In 1834-3-"), 
water lots on the old river bed, commanded higher 
prices than they do no^v. In tlie flush times of 
1836-37, land contracts on long time, became a kind 
of circulating medium, on both sides of the river, 
daily passing from hand to liand, by indorsement ; 
the speculation accruing to each successive holder, 
being realized in cash ; or in promises to pay. The 
coni])any excavated a short ship canal from the Chiy- 
ahoga to the old river l)ed, at the east end, and the 
Waters being high, a steamboat passed into tlie 
Lake, througli a natural channel at the west end. On 
the 3d of March, 1830, the village of Brooklyn 
])ecame an incorporated city. Soon after, the city 
made a canal, from the Cuyahoga river opposite the 
extremity of the Ohio canal, through the marsh, into 
the old river ])ed, al)ove the ship channel. The 
bridge, represented among the ]ithogra])hs at the 



THE BATTLE OF THE URIDGK. 477 

beginning of this book, which stood ut the foot of 
Columbus street, was built l)y the late James S. 
Clark, and an excavation made through the bluff, 
on the south side, at great expense. 

City rivalry ran so high, that a regidar battle 
occurred on this bridge in 1837, between the citizens 
and the city authorities on the west side, and those 
on the east. A field piece was posted on the low 
ground, on the Cleveland side, to rake the bridge, 
very much as the Austriaus did at Lodi, and crow- 
bars, clubs, stones, pistols, and guns Avere freely 
used on both sides. 

Men were wounded of ))oth parties, three of them 
seriously. The draw was cut away, the middle pier, 
and the western abutment partially blown down, and 
the field piece spiked, by the west siders. But the 
sherift', and the city marshal of Cleveland, soon 
oljtained possession of the dilapidated bridge, which 
had been donated to the city. Some of the actors 
Avere confined in the county jail. The bridge ques- 
tion thus got into court, and was finally settled by 
the civil tribunals. In 1855, (June Oth,) all jeal- 
ousies and all rivalry Ijetween interests, that had 
never been in reality opposite, were hapily termi- 
nated, by an union which did away with the arbitrary 
and unreal line of separation. 

The following list of gentlemen filled the ofiice of 
Mayor, during the existence of the Ohio City char- 
ter. 



478 



MAYORS WEST SIDE. 



] 836 — JosiAH Barber. 
1837— Francis A. Burrows. 
1838-9 — Norman C. Baldwin. 
1840-41— Needham M. Standart. 
1842— Francis A. Burrows. 
1843 — KiciiARD Lord. 
1844-45-46— D.H.Lamb. 
1 S47— David Griffith. 
1848— John Beverlin. 
1849— Thomas Burnham. 
1850-51-52— Benjamin Sheldon. 
1853— Wm. B. Castle. 



FLUCTUATIONS IN THE LEVEL OF LAKE ERIE. 



When the early emigrants arrived at Buffalo creek 
they were at the end of roads. From Canandaigua 
to lake Erie, there was only a summer trail for horses, 
along Avhich sleighs and sleds could he moved, on 
the snow in winter. West of Buffalo there was 
nothing resembling a road, except an ancient trail of 
the savages, not much used by them, except in their 
warlike expeditions. Fortunately at the beginning 
of this century, the lake was low, causing a beach of 
clean sand at the margin of the water. Some of the 
streams were difficult to ford, l)ut many of them ^vere 
so much choked with sand, at their mouths, that 
teams could cross. Not far outside of the shore line 
there is deposited a changeable sand bar, ^vhich 
forms at the debouche of all streams, where the force 
of the current is lost in the still water. 

In the transparent waters of our northern lakes 
this bank is easily found. The emigrants thus made 
a passage of the streams by leaving the land, and 



480 THE SPRING RISE. 

driving tlioir toanis, a])paiviitly into the lake. If the 
water was rougli, tlie waves breaking over the beaeh, 
tliey made a eomtbrtable eamp, above the bhiifs in 
tlie woods near tlie shore, and waited patiently tor 
better weather. 

A tew years afterwards, they were surprised to see 
this natural road submerged, by the waters of the 
lake. This alternate appearance and disa])pearance, 
of the lake beaeli, has been a standing mystery to the 
pioueei*s and their descendants. It is a change due 
to the most simple and natural causes. The lakes 
are large ponds or reservoirs, through which the 
waters oi many united rivers How to the ocean. .Vll 
livers are affected by the seasons, but it is more 
noticeable in large ones like the Mississippi, the 
Gauixcs and the Amazon. A year or two c^f drought 
in the country about their main branches, always 
jM-oduces low water. 

When other meteorological eoiulitions occur, and 
one or more rainy seasons folUnv cacli other, the 
rival's are high. The Straits connecting our northern 
lakes, are short rivers, not having capacity enough 
to discharge the surplus waters at once. This chain 
of lakes and their connecting outlets may be regarded 
as one i>;reat river, from tide water at Quebec, to the 
sources of the St. Louis river, in Minnesota. Like 
all larii;e rivers, there is a spring rise and a wintei* fall ; 
except in lake Superior, wliere the rise occurs in 
Ausrust or September. 



SUDDKIVf <»S(:iLLA'ri()NS. 481 

'^riiis Miimial I'isc, occui's in ,]\i\\v. or 'Inly, .-ihoiit, 
the tiiiH^ of tlic ainiUM.l Hood oF tli(! Missoui'i jukI I Ik* 
Mississippi rivers. It is mucli less in (|u,'iiitity, Ixiinnj 
only from twelve to sixteen iiielies; owing to tlio 
expansions, wliieli act as i-eservoirs that must l)e 
liUed ; and vvliieli wlien full, recjiiire some months 
for theii- dischai'ge. In the fall the surfaces of tlie 
lakes decline, simultantiously, as tlu^y rose. A smalhu- 
supply of rain, and iner(%'ise(l (!vaj)oration, together 
with a continual dischai'ge t(^wards the ocean, dis- 
))oses of the surj)lus water of the; si)ring rains. Wlu^n 
winter sets in, tin; «"j)j)ly fi'om the sti'eams is 
diminished by frost, and the lowest stage is reached 
in K(;])ruary or March. 

These results have been ol)tain(!d hy long contin- 
ued measur(unents, of the changes of h;vel on all the 
lakes, during the past fifty years. 

The annual rise and ftill, is only one; of tlu; fluctu- 
ations, to which the lakes are subject. Tluire is a 
sudden Hux and rc^flux, whicli is completed in a few 
seconds, or few minutes ; S(^metimes due to <listant 
storms, but more often cannot be traced to a visibh; 
cause. Those oscillations are not yet explained. 
They occur on all the lakes, and upon other Ixxlies 
of water; causing a rush into th(; mouths of the 
rivers, generally of a few inches in height, but some- 
times of several feet. They have the form of a low 
undulation coming in from the offing, paralhd with 
the shore. I have known them to continue many 



482 SECULAR FLUrTrATIONS. 

hours, and even days, with unbroken regularity, the 
interval from flood to flood, varying from five to 
eight minutes. Besides the annual and the sudden 
fluctuations, there is another "which is more impor- 
tant, and which is called, the " Secular fluctuation." 
It occupies a cycle of years, which is not ecpial in 
duration. For a series of years the water is observed 
to settle away at the end of the annual decline, lower 
than it w\as the previous }'ear at the same time. 

Then it is seen to be higher and higher every year, 
till it reaches the maximum heio-ht. Eeckoninir from 
the highest annual rise, to the lowest, as at present 
known ; the difference is six feet nine inches ; a 
change which has an important influence, upon all 
harbors and docks. The lowest known staire 
of w^ater occurred in February, 1819. From that 
date, there w^as a regular rise until June, 183S, when 
it flooded warehouses in this city, to the depth 
of one foot. At the mouth of Conneaut creek, the 
people were obliged to use boats, in order to pass 
along the streets, from house to house. 

The remarkable rise of June, 1838, attracted the 
attention of every resident, on the shores of lake 
Erie. In the other lakes there was a conspicuous ele- 
vation about the same time. The members of the 
geological surveys of Ohio and Michigan, made obser- 
vations upon this flood in the lakes, and procured 
what information it Avas possible to And, in reference 
to previous years. 



History of tup: observations. 483 

Since the settlement of Detroit, in 1701, it is prob- 
able there had been no water as high as that of 1838. 
Timber which had grown to maturity on low lands, 
having an age of from one to two hundred years, was 
killed by this Hood. From 1788 to 1790, lake Erie 
is re|)orted to have l)een very high. Tlie old French 
inhabitants affirm, that a road which had long before 
been in use on the Detroit river, was rendered useless 
by high water in 1802, which agrees with the state- 
ments of early settlers in Ohio. In 1814, and from 
thence to 1820, Col. Henry Wjhtino, of the U.S. 
army, made measurements, upon the surface fluctua- 
tions in Detroit river, which disclosed the lowest 
known state of the water to be in February, 1810. 
In more recent times some of the United States offi- 
cers, connected with the construction of harbors on 
the lakes, kept water registers, some of them daily 
or three times a day. Of these were Capt. Maco:\[15, 
(now Colonel,) Lieut. Judson, Col. J. B. Stockton, 
and Lieut. Col. Kearny. The head of the Topo- 
graphical Bureau at Washington, Col. Aijert, refused 
all aid and countenance, to these observations, 
although they showed a change of level, which ren- 
dered their reported soundings to l)e erroneous by 
several feet ; for want of a fixed or mean plane of refer- 
ence. It was not until Capt. (now General) Meade 
took charge of the lake survey, that regular daily 
water registers, were officially kept on the lakes. 
Prior to this time, many persons at different places 



484 LIST OF OUSKllVEKS. 

Oil lake Michigan, lake Erie, and lake Ontario, had 
had established points of reference, made fre(j[uent 
measurements, and kept a register of the same. 
Among these are John Lotiiroi', civil engineer, Biif 
falo, N. Y., T. A. Lapiia:\i, Milwaukee, George C. 
Davies, George Tiebout, and I. N. Pillshury, at 
Cleveland, Dr. Douglass Hou(;hton, A. E. HathxVN, 
and Jacob Houghton", Detroit, Edavard Giddings, 
Niagara, T. P. Spencer, Rochester, and M. P. Hatch, 
Oswego. 

From these sources and from my own observations, 
in all numbering some thousands, I have constructed 
a table of elevations, going back as tar as there is 
any reliable information. The diagram which is here 
presented, expresses for lake Erie, in a condensed 
form, addressed to the eye, such of these recorded 
measurements as Avere made once a day or oftener, 
and were continued long enough to cover three or 
more consecutive months. They are all referred to 
a common zero, which is the Mitre sill, or bottom, of 
the enlarged Erie canal. 

The curves are determined l)y an average of the 
observations for each month, expressed in feet and 
decimals ; thus iixing a point in the middle of the 
column of months. Through each of these points a 
curve is drawn, representing a year or part of a year. 
Where there are blanks in the readings, the ciu'ves 
are continued by dotted lines Avhich are conjectural. 
This diacrram is on a vertical scale of four feet to 













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blAGRAM EXPLAINED. 485 

tlie incli, a (juarter of au inch representing one foot, 
whicli is divided l)y finer lines, into fifths or two- 
tenths of a foot. Each place where registers wei-e 
kept, had a zero, or point of reference of its own, bnt 
these are reduced hy means of consecutive readings 
to the one at Buffalo, as the most permanent. At 
Cleveland, we used the high water line of June, 1838, 
counting downwards. Several marks were made on 
the piers and warehouses at that time, all of which 
have disappeared, except one, on the wing wall of 
the canal lock, at the river. The plane of reference 
however, has l)een preserved hy adopting it as the 
city zero, for engineering work, and multiplying 
hench marks in different ])arts of the town. Capt. 
B. Stannard has kept the registers here, for the lake 
survey since 1854. 

A similar diacfram mio;ht now he made for the 
years; taking the mean height of each period of 
twelve months as the ordinate, instead of one month, 
and thus show at a glance, the secular fluctuations. 
For the three best determined years, in my tables, 
the difference is as follows, counting downwards ; 
the lake being on a declining stage of the water. 

1839, below 1838, 1.25 feet. 

1840, " 1839, 1.25 " 

1841, " 1840, 1.05 " 



Total decline in three years, 4.15 



486 ANNUAL FLUCTUATIONS. 

An examination of the curves at once demonstrates 
wliat I liave already stated; that there is an annual 
spring rise, and a wintei' fall in the surface of the 
lakes, like that of our large rivers. This annual 
difference between the highest and lowest months, is 
not precisely the same at all places. 
At Cleveland, the average of 16 years is 1 ft. '5 in. 
At Detroit, " " " " " 1 " 21 " 
At Buffalo, " " " " " " 10^ " 



Average of these three stations, 1 ft. H in. 

These observations dispel the popular belief, 
derived from the Indians ; that the lakes rise seven 
years and decline seven years. This could not be 
the case, unless the seasons should repeat themselves 
in every particular, in that period. In these tables 
there is no case of a change at seven, or at fourteen 
years. 

From 1810 to 1838, there was a continual rise ; a 
period of nineteen years. From 1838 to 1841, a 
decline; in 1841 a slight rise, and from 1842 to 1851, 
eight years, a regular decline. In 1803-54 there 
was a high stage ; in the latter year for a short 
period fully \iy> to the line of 1838. Since 1853, we 
can rely upon the water registers of the lake survey, 
for which an effort is now being made before Con 
gress to have them published. By these it was dis- 
covered, after many thousands of observations on 
lake Michigan, by Lieut. Col. (TKAirA:\r and Prof. 



Tin-; LUNAR TIDE. 487 

Lapiia.m, that there is a slight lunar tide on the lakes. 
It is too small for direct cognizance, being for ordina- 
ry tide at Chicago, only yVW ^^ ^ ^^^^ ^^ 1 i^^^ AV 
foi' the spring tides -fjf^ or 3 inches j^. 



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